Despite at least a couple of “comebacks” here and there, Amil has been on the proverbial rap milk carton ever since she left Roc-a-Fella Records. Well, the “Can I Get A…” rapper reappears with a new single called “Remember.”
Billboard caught up with Amil as part of its running “Ladies First: 31 Female Rappers Who Changed Hip-Hop” series.
Among some of the notable info in the interview are insight into Major Coinz:
“At the time, I definitely wanted to be in a group. I wasn’t thinking about being a solo artist or anything like that. Liz Leite and Monique were in the midst of starting a group [Major Coins] and I vibed with them well.”
“I had been rapping long prior to meeting them. It was something that I did since a little girl. I never looked at it as going beyond me being known in the streets. I never looked at it as a career. That wasn’t the case for the girls.”
“I met Jay Z through the the girls. One particular girl (Leite) had that star quality. She was ready, maybe more ready than anybody else. To me, she was dope.”
She also spoke on leaving the Roc:
“I wasn’t there mentally. I was in my own world. Was I prepared? No. Did I realize what was happening right before my eyes? No.”
…
“I think they (Roc-A-Fella) knew through my actions that I wasn’t in it. I wasn’t the artist that was doing everything be No. 1. I wasn’t doing anything to make myself bigger than what I was. I wasn’t putting any effort in promotion. I wasn’t looking at it as a career. It’s not that I wasn’t doing it because I was stupid, it was because I didn’t want to be there anymore.”
“There was never a conversation. He (Jay Z) knew that that’s not where I wanted to be. I told him that I couldn’t do it for another year. I think he understood, overall. He thought that as time went on I’d be ready, but later realized I wasn’t. I know he knew, ‘She don’t give a fuck about this shit.'”
“I was fine being an around the way rapper. If I could go back in time and do it all over again, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to jump in the game. If I would have did it again, I would have left it alone. I wasn’t cut out for it. I probably would have stepped in as a writer.”
Another fact, Just Blaze credits Amil for making him a go-to producer for the Roc.
As for “Remember,” it samples Jay Z’s “Where I’m From” and the refrain from Faith Evans’ “You Used To Love Me.” As for the bars, the struggle is real.
But if you disagree, let us know in the comments.
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Photo: Amil
