Bay Area legendary rapper E-40 talks with Billboard Deputy Director of R&B, Hip-Hop Carl Lamarre about his new album 'Rule of Thumb: Rule 1,' collaborating with NBA YoungBoy, Gucci Mane and Too Short on the album, almost working with Nipsey Hussle, his favorite memories of Tupac, his entrepreneurship side hustles like his cookbook with Snoop Dogg and more!
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00:00 Happy birthday, brother E-40.
00:02 - Appreciate it.
00:03 - We have these complimentary birthday shots.
00:04 Any words you want to say?
00:05 - I am above you.
00:06 - I am above you.
00:07 - I am below you.
00:08 - I am below you.
00:09 - But I'm right beside you.
00:10 - But I'm right beside you.
00:11 - Cheers, player.
00:12 - Cheers, player. - Yay!
00:13 - Player.
00:13 (upbeat music)
00:14 - Mm.
00:15 - Ah.
00:16 - Gee, gee, gee, gee, gee, gee, gee, gee, gee, gee, gee.
00:19 - Got some air in my chest.
00:19 (laughing)
00:20 - Hey, what's going on?
00:21 This is E-40 and this is Billboard News.
00:24 (upbeat music)
00:26 ♪ I be more hip than a hippopotamus ♪
00:34 ♪ Get off in your head like a neurologist ♪
00:36 ♪ Pitch 'em awake, they're not list ♪
00:37 ♪ Got a problem 'bout the name of two cockles ♪
00:39 ♪ I don't mean no harm, it's the hood in me ♪
00:41 ♪ Trippin' on that Richard Hennessey ♪
00:43 ♪ If it was lifted off the plastic ♪
00:45 ♪ The babes would probably go static ♪
00:46 ♪ My Yeti's fish like a lexus ♪
00:47 ♪ The game that I give is accurately ♪
00:48 - What's going on, y'all?
00:49 I'm Billboard Deputy Director of Army Hip Hop,
00:51 Mr. Karl Lamar, and we are here with brother E-40.
00:54 How you feeling?
00:55 - Sup?
00:56 - Woo!
00:57 How are you feeling overall, man?
00:58 - I feel good, man.
01:00 I really feel good.
01:01 I'm happy, I'm in a happy space.
01:03 God is great.
01:04 - This year, 50 years of hip hop,
01:05 you've been celebrating a lot of wins,
01:07 but I'm just curious overall,
01:08 what does 50 years of hip hop mean to you?
01:10 - Oh, it means everything.
01:11 They didn't think it'd get this far, you know?
01:13 Now it's the number one genre of music.
01:15 Hip hop, man, you see it in commercials,
01:17 you see it in movies, you see it everywhere.
01:19 It's all related to sports and entertainment,
01:23 and it's from the urban community.
01:26 And look at it now, it's then became even suburban,
01:29 and it's everywhere like air.
01:31 You can't get away from it, man, 50 years.
01:33 Shout out to, yes, Demi Cool Herc and the founders of hip hop.
01:38 Thank you.
01:39 - Absolutely.
01:39 Shout out to the forefathers.
01:40 1324 Magazine Street.
01:42 You said that rings a bell to you.
01:44 Why?
01:45 - That's my upbringing.
01:46 That's where I grew up at.
01:47 That's where I learned all my game at.
01:49 That's where I had my obstacles and hurdles
01:51 that I had to jump over.
01:52 Shoot, man, I mean, it means everything to me.
01:54 It wouldn't be E-40 if it wasn't
01:55 1300 Block Magazine Street.
01:57 - And I mean, we're also celebrating 30 years of federal.
02:00 - Ain't that crazy?
02:01 - That's a big number.
02:02 - That's crazy.
02:03 I had an EP out in 1989 called "Mr. Flamboyant" before that,
02:07 but that was my first full-fledged album.
02:09 And it's a trip because that started off as an EP.
02:12 And then I just was,
02:12 I had so much game and gas to put out there
02:15 that I just said, let me just make it into an album.
02:17 So yeah, 30 years, that's crazy.
02:19 Time be flying, man.
02:20 - I was gonna say,
02:21 what do you remember most of recording federal?
02:24 - I had a clothing store back in them days
02:26 right down the street from my man Studio Tone's studio.
02:29 And so what I do is the money that I made
02:31 from my clothing store,
02:33 I would go drop off a deposit to him.
02:37 And that was pre-production back then.
02:38 So that pre-production would be like four hours.
02:40 And so I'd go in there,
02:42 we'd make some beats and get them all together.
02:43 Then I'd come back to my clothing store the next day
02:46 and just start writing to it.
02:47 Then I'd go drop off another deposit.
02:49 And all I needed was four hours back then.
02:51 And I'd knock out four or five songs in them four hours.
02:54 Like it was already pre-written.
02:55 I already had the game and gas and locked it in.
02:58 - I'm curious, man.
02:59 When you think of federal 30 years back then
03:02 versus you have a new album coming out,
03:03 "Rule of Thumb" number one, man,
03:05 how would you like describe your evolution
03:07 over that 30 year period in terms of your writing process?
03:10 - It's a trip because back in them days when I wrote,
03:13 I would write on anything.
03:15 Paper plates, like a Dixie paper plate
03:17 on the back of it, yeah, anything.
03:19 I would have my own little editing the way I did it.
03:21 If I messed up on a word, I kind of had a second page.
03:24 I'd cut it out the word and then put that word in there.
03:28 It was crazy.
03:29 That's the genius stuff, that throat in the head stuff.
03:33 And back then we was going into the vocal booth
03:34 back and forth.
03:36 Punch me in.
03:36 'Cause a lot of ideas come to you right then and there.
03:39 Everything ain't always written, pre-written.
03:43 So now I just sit in my studio,
03:45 had an engineer punch me in.
03:47 We don't even use the, I ain't used the vocal booth
03:49 in probably about five, six years.
03:51 - Wow.
03:51 - Yeah, 'cause we do it right there in the studio now.
03:54 It's headphones, microphone right there,
03:56 and it's all gravity.
03:57 'Cause the room treatment in my studio is nice.
04:00 It's not bouncing all over the places.
04:02 You know what I'm saying?
04:03 The sound and whatnot is pretty good.
04:05 Go in there and just punch me in,
04:07 say a few words, sit down and think about it.
04:11 But punch me in again, you know, like that.
04:13 And I feel like it's more, I'm more,
04:15 I think I'm better than ever.
04:16 This album gonna shock a lot of people.
04:18 It's game and gas, man.
04:19 It's genius, well thought out, super slaps,
04:23 different subject matters.
04:25 I don't sound like nobody in rap.
04:27 I'm not trying to be like nobody in rap.
04:29 I'm just being me.
04:30 And I want to satisfy my fan base.
04:32 And whoever wants to join my fan base,
04:34 come on in and get a dose of this game.
04:36 As far as my music, it's been a drought.
04:38 ♪ I grew up off of that ball ♪
04:40 - Come to the party.
04:41 - Yeah.
04:42 - And it's gonna be a nice party
04:43 because you got cast like NBA Youngboy, Gucci Mane,
04:46 your brother Too Short.
04:47 What I think is dope about those three I mentioned,
04:49 it's kind of like three different eras.
04:51 So talk about being able to have fun
04:54 with that like intergenerational type of experience
04:57 with three different eras of rap.
04:59 - Well, you know, let's start off with NBA Youngboy.
05:02 He's a old soul.
05:03 He ain't been here before.
05:04 He's a deep young man.
05:06 You know what I mean?
05:07 And I always liked him.
05:08 And Birdman hit me one day and was like,
05:10 "Hey, Youngboy want you on one of his songs."
05:13 And he sent it to me.
05:15 We connected.
05:16 I knocked out one for his album.
05:17 But you know, he putting out an album
05:19 every two, three months.
05:20 He ain't playing.
05:22 He probably finna beat me with most albums in the game.
05:24 - I was just gonna say that.
05:24 Y'all have a one-two right now.
05:26 - Yeah, he ain't playing.
05:27 'Cause you know, nowadays you can do that.
05:29 And he young and hungry.
05:30 He ain't playing.
05:31 And so, you know, back in our days,
05:33 we used to have set up times where you gotta
05:35 wait, you know, eight weeks
05:37 just for the cassettes to come back in and everything.
05:41 And now, I can go in the studio right now,
05:43 do a song or do a whole album in a week,
05:46 and have that thing out the next week.
05:48 You know, real quick, the next day,
05:49 the next 24 hours, 48 hours.
05:51 But, you know, Youngboy, it was great having him on there.
05:55 I got him on a song that people probably
05:56 wouldn't even know he would get on.
05:58 It's positive, but it's just the struggle.
06:00 It's like, it's really, it's a good one.
06:02 It's called "Tryin' to Get My Life Right."
06:04 Then you got Gucci Mane.
06:06 I mean, Gucci Mane got so many damn songs together.
06:09 From my albums to his albums,
06:11 gold, platinum, all that.
06:13 So, that's my guy, man.
06:14 I met Gucci Mane like in 2001.
06:16 Him and Jeezy at the same time.
06:18 I met both of them on Big Meech Bus.
06:21 Yeah, we did a video.
06:22 I did a song called "Still Here"
06:24 with Blue Da Vinci back in them days.
06:25 We was all together.
06:26 And ever since then, I've been cool
06:28 with Jeezy and Gucci and everybody.
06:31 You feel me?
06:32 Yeah, no.
06:32 Too Short, you know, that's my brother.
06:34 You know, we going back to the 80s.
06:36 So, that's a given.
06:37 I love that.
06:38 And you kind of just mentioned Youngboy's number two
06:42 when it comes with most solo albums to chart
06:45 from a rap on the Billboard 200.
06:47 You're number one.
06:48 Yeah.
06:49 What do you credit that longevity to?
06:51 Especially, like you said,
06:52 recording and releasing albums
06:54 were different back then versus today.
06:57 Just really having a passion for rapping.
06:59 Like, I really love rapping.
07:01 And it ain't no sense to me going in a studio
07:05 for eight hours and not knocking out two, three songs,
07:07 at least, a verse of each song,
07:09 and then go back and add another verse to it.
07:12 You know what I'm saying?
07:13 You know, I just feel like my music need to be heard.
07:15 I took a break, like, for about two, three years.
07:17 You know, I done got so busy into my diversity,
07:21 you know, having different side hustles and stuff,
07:24 like, you know, selling adult beverages
07:26 and food and stuff like that.
07:27 But now, you know, I've always rapped,
07:29 but I got hundreds of songs.
07:32 Like, what my plan is to do,
07:35 I plan on doing four albums within the next eight months.
07:39 You know, RIP to my brother, Nipsey Hussle.
07:42 I heard you and Nick were supposed to get in the studio
07:44 on "Victory Lap."
07:46 Yeah, so he sent me "Been Grinding On My Life."
07:49 ♪ Grinding on my life ♪
07:51 ♪ Sacrifice, Hussle paid the price ♪
07:53 And I didn't know, he didn't tell me when he needed it back.
07:56 And let's see, you know, I'm like,
07:57 "Oh, damn, this one of them ones, too."
08:01 He didn't say, like, but sometimes I say,
08:03 "When you need it back?"
08:04 And he's, "Oh, man, give me a couple."
08:05 You know, we didn't even discuss it,
08:07 he just sent it, next thing you know,
08:08 he put a ticket to the face.
08:10 I was like, "Damn."
08:12 But I'm missing Nipsey, he was really a good dude.
08:14 He always showed me respect.
08:15 He patterned his hustle after mine,
08:17 you know what I'm saying?
08:18 I really miss him, and I think he would really make
08:20 a big impact in rap right now if he was still living.
08:23 His music was great, and he was an overall great person.
08:26 Of course, R.I.P. Nipsey Hussle, man.
08:29 Also, R.I.P. Mr. Tupac Shakur.
08:31 You were there when they made Tupac Shakur away.
08:34 Man, what's your fondest memory of Pac?
08:38 My mom was getting her house ready.
08:41 She had just bought a house in Hayward.
08:43 And so she was staying in Emerville for a minute
08:46 in some apartments upstairs from my sister, Sugar T, right?
08:50 Tupac came out, we shot this video
08:52 called "Practice Lickin' Hard."
08:54 ♪ Whatever happened to the days of little Lee ♪
08:56 ♪ Pop Warner and Bull Scouts, the Omega's Boys Club ♪
09:00 This is in 1993, and he really came out to him,
09:03 man, man, all his crew.
09:05 We had the whole Bay Area.
09:06 Everybody that was somebody, they all came out,
09:09 and we did it.
09:10 We just had a ball.
09:11 I mean, he taking pictures with the kids.
09:13 He all in the video.
09:15 You can find me, him, Boots from the Coup,
09:18 through the video, through the whole thing.
09:20 And then we had all the other rappers,
09:21 from the Loonies to Drew Dowd to Spice One.
09:25 Everybody that was somebody in that video.
09:27 I hadn't even had a distribution deal at that time.
09:30 I was still, you know, with City Hall Records.
09:32 That was my main distribution hub,
09:34 a small one-stop/distributor, you know what I'm saying,
09:37 in the Bay.
09:38 And it was just great to just have him sit there
09:41 and show people how to,
09:42 he showed people how to roll a blunt.
09:44 You know, way back, he's like,
09:46 "This is how you roll a blunt," you know what I'm saying?
09:49 Just being a genuine person and showing love
09:51 to the older people that was there,
09:53 'cause the whole apartment complex was just full of everybody,
09:56 from kids to older people, everything,
09:58 and just took pictures with 'em and all that.
10:01 So, that's just one of many.
10:03 You know, I just like genuine people.
10:04 That's how I am.
10:05 - I love that.
10:06 So, keeping it West Coast,
10:08 you teamed up with your brother Snoop
10:09 for this new cookbook, "Goon with the Spoon."
10:12 - Absolutely.
10:13 - Talk about that experience
10:15 and how it's different, you guys teaming up,
10:17 in the booth versus making this cookbook together.
10:20 - Me and Snoop, we both enjoy cooking.
10:23 You know, he got his recipes how he get out,
10:25 I got my recipes how I get out.
10:27 - Okay.
10:27 - Based on our upbringing and our surroundings.
10:29 - Okay.
10:30 - I started off cooking on IG, like, 2014.
10:34 I was, my mother-in-law and my father-in-law
10:36 bought me a power pressure cooker,
10:38 and I started using that thing.
10:39 So, I was putting oxtails in that thing,
10:40 I was putting some other chicken.
10:42 - Oh, you doing real cooking.
10:43 - Yeah, yeah, I was, lasagna,
10:46 you could do a lot of that stuff with it,
10:48 you know what I'm saying?
10:48 I was making short ribs, gumbo.
10:52 So, I started hashtagging #GoonWithASpoon,
10:54 and the #GoonWithASpoon comes from a song
10:56 that my cousin B. Legit and I both did.
10:58 B. was like the first one screaming #GoonWithASpoon.
11:01 And I was like, "Ugh, that's so hard."
11:03 So, you know what I'm saying?
11:04 So, I hashtagged #GoonWithASpoon,
11:05 so I had my boy cousin Fik, I said,
11:06 "Fik, have somebody go in and design a logo."
11:09 So, he had one of his boys design a logo.
11:11 So, I put the vector of the logo
11:13 into all my segments of my cooking on IG.
11:16 People just started chiming in,
11:17 "Ugh, man, that look good."
11:19 It got verified, and so he was like,
11:21 "Earl, cousin Earl, you need to let me cook,
11:22 "put your book out, man."
11:23 I had a best, mine is a best seller,
11:25 'cause he got his book, just similar to that,
11:27 but it's a different color and different schemes.
11:29 Mine look more ghetto elegant.
11:32 He told me that.
11:33 - I'm wondering, because you have this chef mentality,
11:36 are you critical when you try other people's food?
11:38 - Very critical.
11:40 You know, I take pride into cooking,
11:43 and I try to treat everybody like I wanna be treated,
11:46 overall, and I like food according to how I like it.
11:50 Like, I like mayonnaise, right?
11:51 So, if I'm making a turkey meal,
11:54 you know what I'm saying,
11:55 I definitely gotta spread the mayonnaise
11:59 on all parts of the bread.
12:01 You can't just put a little woo-wop on there.
12:03 I make it according to how I like it.
12:05 If I like it, you should love it,
12:07 'cause I feel like God blessed me with great taste buds.
12:10 - The alcohol to the ice cream
12:11 to obviously now the cookbook,
12:13 talk about your venture into being an entrepreneur
12:17 and how that has been able to add extra longevity
12:20 to your brand.
12:21 - Yeah, absolutely.
12:22 You know, it's always good to have
12:24 additional revenue streams.
12:26 You know, you want checks to come from here, there,
12:29 you want your wire depository,
12:31 you wanna get money from all over the place, you know?
12:34 So, you gotta have octopus arms in this game,
12:37 and that's one thing about me,
12:38 I've always been that type of,
12:40 I've always been into that mold, you know,
12:42 from selling tapes out the trunk of the car,
12:44 I've been an entrepreneur.
12:46 I call it entrepreneur,
12:47 which is an entrepreneur and a millionaire all put in one.
12:50 - That's a bar.
12:51 - Yeah, I'm throwin' like a frisbee,
12:52 I say all kinds of stuff.
12:53 Yeah, you feel me?
12:54 - I mean, listen, I feel like you've had
12:55 a fruitful year in 2023.
12:58 You got your doctorate from Grambling,
13:00 honorary doctorate.
13:01 You got to kick it with Miss Kamala Harris.
13:04 - Yeah, definitely did.
13:05 - What's been your proudest moment
13:06 and achievement of this year?
13:08 - You want me to tell you for real?
13:09 - I'm being real.
13:10 - I don't give a one-thou-wild, man.
13:12 Damn, it's kinda like a tie.
13:14 That's my doctorate degree,
13:16 and then also the Magazine Street sign.
13:20 Gettin' my street named after me,
13:21 gettin' the key to the city.
13:23 Really, that's my main,
13:24 that right there means so much to me,
13:26 'cause that's where it all started.
13:27 If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have none of nothin'.
13:30 You know what I'm sayin'?
13:31 My experiences in the trenches, everything.
13:34 You know, just bein' seasoned, my upbringings,
13:36 the way my mama raised me, you know,
13:39 just bein' part of a family where,
13:41 you understand me, we all work together.
13:43 - Do you still feel underrated, in a sense,
13:46 even though, like, shit, you're considered top 50,
13:49 you know, we did our gold list, had you in the top 50,
13:51 you're beloved in every city, every state,
13:53 every country you go to,
13:54 but in a sense, do you still feel underrated?
13:56 - Of course, I feel like, to be honest with you,
13:59 besides Pac, I feel like I'm the dopest rapper in the world.
14:02 - Talk about it.
14:02 - Like, you know, a lot of times,
14:04 when people don't understand,
14:05 they seem to, you know, dislike or somethin',
14:10 because it's too difficult for 'em,
14:12 but those who do understand, that's open-minded,
14:15 that loves creativity and different content
14:18 and just subject matter and game and lyrics
14:20 and slang words and all this stuff put in one,
14:24 I ain't rappin' too fast,
14:25 they just be listenin' too slow.
14:27 So some of these people ain't really locked in like that,
14:29 so that some of 'em ain't really from where you from,
14:31 so they don't get it.
14:32 They just roll with whoever popular at the time,
14:35 then they turn two faces on 'em.
14:36 My fan base stuck with me out the gate
14:38 and been with me all these years,
14:40 for 36 plus years, you understand me?
14:43 Doin' music, havin' music on the shelf.
14:45 - Mm, amen.
14:46 Thank you as always.
14:47 - Thank you, my dog, Gordon.
14:48 - I appreciate you, brother.
14:49 - Thank you. - Thank you.
14:50 (upbeat music)