Thats a really tough question...so here's a few: D.I.T.C., Bomb Squad, Dre (NWA to Doggystyle era), older Beatnuts, older Beatminerz, of course Premier and Diamond D, Madlib, Havoc, Daz... I know a lot of "underground" kids might disagree but I think the Neptunes and Mannie Fresh are also really dope.

How do you feel about the happenings in hip-hop today and what artists/groups are you feeling right now?

I think hip-hop today is booming. Yeah, there's a lot of wack shit out too, the whole computer recording explosion and the internet has made it easy for any random head to make tracks, which is good and bad, but there's still tons of great music being made. I'm an older dude, so I remember when you couldn't really hear rap on the radio, and now its everywhere - I saw a diapers ad the other day with some baby "scratching" on it. It's kind of crazy but that's how it goes. Even the super commercial stuff, Nelly or Jay-Z or whoever, I'd much rather hear that on the radio than some other bullshit "alt-rock" trying to sound like Stone Temple Pilots or Celine Dion or something. I'm feeling a lot of new acts, everybody I mentioned already, Stones Throw is doing it -Wildchild, Medaphoar, and Dudley Perkins all have hot records coming out...I like that Soul Supreme joint, Little Brother, Maspkye (Springfield represent), Dub Diablo, Lightheaded, Fat Jon, J Rawls, Science Fiction, lots of people.

Tell me about 442 Records.

442 records is my own label, its name comes from the 442nd infantry which was the unit in WWII that was all Japanese-Americans, that my grandfather was in. They were the most highly decorated (and heavily injured/killed) unit in the whole war because they were sent on the shittiest, most

dangerous missions. These guys were fighting for the U.S. while a lot of their families were locked up in internment camps even though they never committed any crime. It's fucked up because you don't really learn about that stuff in school, and a lot of people have no idea about any of that. So calling the label 442 is basically a way to honor my grandfather and all the other guys in the crew.

What projects do you have planned for the future?

Lots of stuff...I have at least another album or 2 already recorded and am planning to get a follow-up album out by January. I'm working an a bunch of collabos with other emcees, but I don't wanna drop any names until its all set, its gonna be fresh though. There's a Japanese label that's interested in doing some stuff as well, another label I might do some remixes for, I'm just trying to keep things moving...I also want to do some more soundtrack work (I've done music for 2 low-key porn DVDs) and am trying to get together a crazy live show so I can do a tour.

When you're not engaged in music, what do you do with yourself?

Well, I got laid off in January so I've got a lot of free time on my hands...I like to read a lot, I do some writing, watch a lot of shitty, non-cable TV, play basketball occasionally, get baked, play horseshoes, have BBQ's, that kind of stuff. I like to travel when I can afford it, just spent a few days in Vegas and am hoping to get back to Hawaii and New York later this year.

I read the Globe today and according to the Feds Al-Qaeda has plans to target Boston beaches. Can I sleep over?

Any time...