Maino: Hustling Hard

By Mark Williams-Washington

Recently signed to Universal Records, it was a long way to the top for this Brooklyn native. Find out how Maino used hip-hop to overcome adversity, what he thinks of backwards rappers, and why he has to stay real...

Shine: So what’s good fam?

Maino: Ain't nothing man. I'm just trying to finish up my album. Stay in the streets, stay relevant, and hustle hard. Doing what I do, you know...

Shine: Who's on the album right know?

Maino: I got Lil' Kim on there, Trey Songz...I don't got too many features on there. By the time it's all the way done it will have a few features on there. Not too many because the people need to hear just me since I'm a new artist.

Shine: How many mixtapes did you put out before you got your deal?

Maino: I put out about three mixtapes of my own. But it was the fact that I was in the mixtape circuit. I was on Clue, K-Slay, Cutmaster C, and Big Mike. My mixtapes was only going so far, but these dudes got they own distribution. So you jump on a Clue tape and it end up in Miami or London. The DVD thing kind of helped me as well, and then when I did "Rumors" I got the deal.

Shine: Where did you get the idea for "Rumors"?

Maino: That goes back to me being in the mixtape circuit. Just being in the circuit I started to feel like damn, I'm not really doing well because you got like 300 DJ's and 10,000 rappers. So I thought "What can I do to kind of define myself?"

I started to question myself like that, so I could define myself from the whole mixtape scene. So I came up with a concept that would separate me. And that's how it came about.

Shine: When you were doing your own mixtapes, how many were you putting out?

Maino: A few thousand. I was pressing up nothing less than three or four thousand on my own.

Shine: How come you have beef with Cutmaster C?

Maino: You got to understand that most people ain't what they portray themselves to be. He kind of did some things that wasn't right. I started to slap him but I decided not to...

Shine: You were in jail for 10 years. What were you doing during that time?

Maino: What I did other than get into trouble, that's where I learned to rap at. I went to jail when I was younger. Rap or singing or anything like that was not even an option for me. It just was the streets...the streets all day. When I was bidding out of boredom and going to the box is when I started rhyming. At one point I was in the box for like a year straight.

Shine: Damn son...

Maino: So I was bored, and it was people rhyming around me, and I kind of got inspired through them. I was like, "Damn I don't got nothing else to do," so I started rhyming. So it started as a hobby to kind of like pass time. Other than reading, writing, or working out there is not really too much else you can do. So that is really how that came about.

Shine: How much material you think you got from that time period?

Maino: A lot man. I wrote a lot man. Because once I started to like it, I started to consider and try my hand at it once I got home. I started to say rapping is the new hustle. Once I seen B.I.G take off I said, "Damn, well maybe I can give it a shot," because I identify with him coming from the same place that I came from. So I just kept writing and writing. You know because anything that you keep doing you going to get better at. I was kind of like nurturing my skill, trying to craft it.

Shine: How many songs you came home with?

Maino: I didn't really use my stuff that I was in jail with. I came home and I started to do that, but I started to live. I was living. And when I was living, I got a breath of life. When I caught that breath of life I caught my second wind. Then I was going to the studio and recording. I started to write, but that wasn't working. I don't write my rhymes at all.

I do them in my brain and then go to the studio and think of what I want to say, and then go in the booth and put it down. So that's how I record. I go to the studio - I don't come with no pen, no pad, I don't come with nothing from yesterday. I do it right on the spot. I go and listen to the beat and then record every time. That's how I record.

Shine: What do you think makes you different than others?

Maino: I am myself. I am a straight-up real dude. I come to the people as the people. I am not here to stunt. My life is my own. I rap and I talk about my own experiences. I am not afraid to speak my mind. Most of these dudes haven't really approached life from the perspective that I have approached it from. I been a criminal all my life homie. Rap is a way out for me. For a life that's been real for me. A lot of these dudes starting to get in touch with they criminal style now after they sold some records.

[Today] you finding rappers that sold some records, become popular and then indulge in criminal activity. Which I think is backwards. They start getting caught with guns and stuff like that, which I think is stupid. They not people like me. I'm still on parole man.

Shine: What do you think that's due to?

Maino: That's due to the lack of them really knowing themselves. They insecure. They didn't have the guts or balls to come out in the streets and play when they was supposed to... When it was time to do all that, they weren't out there. They wasn't acting like that. When you look at someone on the screen that's been successful, you got to think, "Why is he grilling on the screen? What is he mad about?"

Shine: What's the name of your album?

Maino: The name of the album is Death Before Dishonor. On that you get all honesty. You not just getting a bunch of rhetoric or a bunch of talking. I'm telling the whole story, the truth, and nothing but the truth. I am not just discussing my wins, but I'm discussing my losses. It's an honest, real talk album. It's for every day n*ggas...for everyday people.

Shine: So when can we expect the official album?

Maino: They want to get me out like around March, but I'm trying to push that back myself. Because I feel like I have to fill up my presence. I'm trying to get bigger out here before I even drop an album.

Shine: So you dropping a few mixtapes before then?

Maino: I am doing a little bit of everything. I'm on Funk Flex album, me and Kay Slay just finished doing a mixtape. I'm doing a few things. Doing DVD's just to keep building up my presence. I'm about to get on the road.

Shine: Any last words or shout outs?

Maino: If you a real person and you about a dollar, no matter what you do to get it, just be true man, and stay real. Stay up. Real recognize real. All day everyday, hustle hard.