Extracted from the AOR Vault: 2004

How did you come up with the name Milk Me?

Psycho Les: It just happened to fit. You can take that in many ways.

I noticed from your album artwork which direction it could be taken…

Psycho Les: You can take it that way, or you can take it like a “f*ck you or go to hell.” We always had titles like that, like “Take it or Squeeze it“.

JuJu: It’s something thing you can kind of just run with.

It seems like you guys put in a little diss towards J-Lo on how she jacked your beat from “Watch Out Now” for “Jenny on the Block.” As producers who use sampling, what was the major problem with the way they went about it?

Psycho Les: They went about it by hiring a different producer to just copy and replay everything the way we did it.

That was Track Masters, correct?

Psycho Les: Trash Masters, yeah. This motherfucker got paid to do this shit. That’s like you’re going to pay me to do a Dr. Dre beat, and he’s not going to get paid because I copied it. That’s wrong.

JuJu: The excuse of sampling, or whatever, is that you could say that we sampled that too. That was an old record that nobody was thinking about. It wasn’t somebody else’s rap record that’s two years old and already a hit.

Psycho Les: It wasn’t no Michael Jackson or some Barry White. Everything we do is some shit you have to dig for. That’s why they copied it off of us, because they don’t know where the original came from.

JuJu: Everybody thinks it’s “Hijack” but it’s not. It’s a version of “Hijack” that somebody else did. If you listen to the original “Hijack” record, which they are saying we sampled, it ain’t even that. It doesn’t have the flutes like that. It’s a different version, not the disco version that her and her producers are saying we sampled. If we didn’t sample it, nobody was going to do it. If there was no “Watch out Now” there’d be no “Jenny on the Block.” I’m over it, what’s done is done, but it’s unfortunate that it was done in the wrong way.

How do you feel about “Milk Me” being leaked and that part of the business?

JuJu: I wasn’t aware that it was leaked, really?

Psycho Les: Shit like that’s going to happen regardless, it’s just some good hip-hop. We do music, that’s what it’s about. If you listen to our music our shit is right up there with whatever the hottest producer is.

If I’m not mistaken, this is your 9th album. What has been your secret for staying strong after all this time?

JuJu: I don’t know. I guess just a genuine love for what we do. What we do is make music, that’s all I know how to do. I didn’t go to college, I used to work in a transmission shop. This is my life.

As a team of producers and rappers, what is a general process you go through in a creative process?

JuJu: I guess just making the beat is essentially the spark of everything. Just finding that record and flipping that beat. That beat just gets you open to rhyming and everything else creatively.

Psycho Les: Every beat has a different feel and it’s going to make us feel a different way.

JuJu: We just dig for it.

It seems like every year you guys have another potential club hit that doesn’t get the play it deserves, is it just politics keeping you from going over the top?

JuJu: This whole shit is politics. It’s a big ass monopoly. All you can do is cross your fingers. Dealing with the DJs is like walking on egg shells. You just have to hope that niggaz dig your shit and that you got that opportunity.

Are you guys at a point where you don’t care as much if it doesn’t get the play because you’ve proven yourself?

Psycho Les: Honestly, people ask me, “You excited, you have a new album coming out?” I’ve been putting out albums forever, I don’t get excited anymore. Let’s just see what happens, let’s have fun with it.

Are there any other versions of Milk Me? I heard there was a European one?

JuJu: There is a European version that may have an extra song on it, but there’s nothing else.

How is touring overseas as opposed to the states?

JuJu: It’s basically the same shit. They’re more receptive to us overseas, because they don’t get artists over there as much. Mainly because some artists are leary about going over there. Plus, they’re more hip-hop oriented so when a group like the Beatnuts heads over there they really feel it.

What is your current touring status?

JuJu: As far as I know, we’re doing a promo run next month. San Fransico, LA, and then the New England area as well.

What’s up with Al Tariq right now?

JuJu: I have no idea. Les might know more than me.

Psycho Les: I haven’t heard from him in a minute. I think he’s working on his own things.

JuJu: Last I heard he was more of a manager.

Besides all your promotion, what else do you have lined up?

JuJu: We have artists we’re working with, we continue doing production.

Are you in any position to say who this is with?

JuJu: No, no.

Psycho Les: I got something on the new Mos Def album. A few other things, just trying to get on a lot of people’s albums.

Milk Me I ThePsychoLesShop I IG I Wiki