I wasn't altered by the things that come with success but as you go about it those things play a part. You have twenty million people in your ear and they all trying to tell you which way to go. Then you have BDS, videos, and all this stuff calling you that you start to analyze because you're constantly around it and everybody is looking at these numbers.
Mic GeronimoWhen I did The Natural that album was done from the perspective of a kid from Queens that was 19-20 years old who doesn't know that much about the industry.
Mic GeronimoI got a little criticism for working with Puff [Daddy] and I got some criticism for doing the special but you have to weigh the good with the bad. I got more of a good response than bad when I did those two things.
Mic GeronimoI get hit everyday with people everyday saying I remember this record from that, this changed my life or this record was playing when this happened so I'm thankful for that. On the other side I look at it like I got to do so many things in life I never thought I'd be able to do so who am I to complain about what position I'm in or not in. I gotta be thankful for everything that occurred in my career. That's how I look at it.
Mic GeronimoBe mindful of everything going on around you and always be on point but don't be so on point that you lose that ability to be what it was that got you out there.
Mic GeronimoI just make [music] for the people that always enjoyed hearing from me. I make it for people that enjoy the energy of rap music or a good rhyme. I do it for the people I see everyday, not the Hollywood ass people, the normal people.
Mic GeronimoI don't regret anything that I ever did. You just look back at things and you either learn from them or get what you can from them but I wouldn't change what I did.
Mic GeronimoIt could be the old man I see at the store or the chick I see walking down the block. Normal people that are everywhere you go. That's who I make records for and I don't expect all of them to give me pay $11.99 to hear my record.
Mic GeronimoYou're always going to need those folks that introduce certain things to the next generation and I fit in that sense.
Mic GeronimoRap is purging itself from the things it didn't need and it's allowing the younger dudes to come up. With that being said you're always going to need people from that golden era.
Mic GeronimoI'm just the type of person that realizes that someone is always going to have something to say so I could care less about it.
Mic GeronimoEverybody plays their part in this world and not all parts are the same. So I look at it like whatever I was put here to do that's what the outcome is.
Mic GeronimoI'm human so I'd be lying if I said that it's not times where you sit back like damn all these niggas is poppin what's up?
Mic GeronimoThe public doesn't get to see everything. I worked with X a couple times since then. Me and X have a close relationship. We actually did a record they were going to put on the Training Day soundtrack but he ending up buying the record from me and putting it on Great Depression as a bonus track.
Mic GeronimoThere are other jobs I do besides rap. I was considering going back to school so there have been a few things on my plate that I thought about doing during my time off.
Mic GeronimoBe true to yourself and as long as you can look back and be happy with what you've done stay that way.
Mic GeronimoThe Gods have a lesson that tells you to build and destroy and that's the cycle of life. Things have to be destroyed and then it has to be rebuilt. I think rap always go through cycles where it appears that it's destroying itself but it's actually purging itself and after it purges itself it comes into another state of being.
Mic GeronimoI could cover the gamut. It's cool though you go in for an hour, read the script, leave and you got a check.
Mic GeronimoI went to acting school for like a year and ended up doing voiceovers and stuff. I could have done a lot more with it but at the time I really wasn't taking it seriously.
Mic GeronimoI look at Large Professor as a big influence. I grew up with him and being able to grow up with him enabled me to meet Nas, Busta, Q-Tip and all these people I looked up to at the time. Even Large himself. He was a good friend but at the same time he was definitely someone I looked up to.
Mic GeronimoI could look in everyone's faces and see them reflecting on how much time has passed and all the things we went through.
Mic GeronimoI hope everyone continues to ride with me the way they have done. I could never repay you because each and every one of you changed my life.
Mic GeronimoWhen I do things with people it's not with the hopes of them coming back because that would be a selfish reason for me to do anything.
Mic GeronimoI don't see everybody as much as I used to because as individuals everybody is busy but none of the relationships have changed.
Mic GeronimoI would do the same thing over again because whatever I did was meant for me to do, you dig what I'm saying? If it wasn't meant for me to do that show and work with Puff [Daddy]then it wouldn't have ever occurred.
Mic GeronimoThe way I think it all went down was MTV was doing a special on people and my publicist heard about it.It was a good thing though. People ask me about that all the time, all over the world. Sometimes I feel I'm more known for that then for rapping.
Mic GeronimoI was djing before I was rapping. I was calling myself Mike Geronimo and spelling it like Mike but he was just like spell it M-i-c. I was like that's ill cuz it stands out.
Mic GeronimoAs an artist when you come into [hip hop] you don't know nothing really. You just know what you do and it's free of the influences of money, power and all these other things people learn about the further they get into it.
Mic GeronimoHip Hop has its ups and downs but I'm gonna do my best to not necessarily bring that back but just remind people what they are forgetting about.
Mic GeronimoI'm at a point where I let my mind go with flow of the music I'm making and it's not interrupted by me trying to please everybody.
Mic GeronimoIt used to be when a good record was about to drop you heard it out of every car and every kid with a boom box was playing it 3-4 weeks before it came out. Now it's not like that you just see ipods left and right and there's no anticipation factor. I have yet to see something drop with the anticipation that Illmatic had or that Ready 2 Die and Cuban Linx had. Those records had real anticipation factors.
Mic Geronimo