Your music is very personal. Is it hard for you to let people inside your world like that?

Nah not really. I came to the realization a long time ago that I wanted to tell my story, the whole story, the true story. A lot of people can relate or understand or know someone and appreciate that.

People have come up to me at shows and told me they cried and damn near choked up in front of me, 

listening to my music, so that’s absolutely my motivation. Emotion. In 2001, when i dropped my first

“actual” solo album, “OF EPIC PROPORTION” it was super scientifical, lots of religous and historical

imagry in really dense battle rhymes, but you couldn’t really tell who I was. It did ok on the

internet, and I still get hit up about it to this day, but a robot could have made that record. So,

I went back to the drawing board, and said, I wanna be me. Unfiltered Mike. And it worked. People

really respect me, and can tell by my songs, see me at a show, and know I’m a real person. And I’m

good with that. However, sometimes I think maybe I put TOO MUCH out there. People in my life, hit me

up, like why did you say this, or did you have to put that in there? But for me it’s either tell

nothing or tell everything. So I gotta put it all in there for my own sanity.

There seems to be a very angry and dark feeling to your music, almost cold. Why is that?

I guess that’s just a manifestation of the life I have. And it’s not all bad, I’m not like some of

these underground dudes, I do not walk around 24/7 with a scowl on my face, smoking pcp, and oiling

bullets to put in my gun lol. However, my life has been very ill and the music shows that. Each

album is a marker of where my life is at, in the year it took to produce, write and record it. I

spent my entire life doing drugs. Not nyquil and vicodin. I shot heroin, smoked dust, drank

alcoholically. “The Awakening” i thought was a brighter record, i might have been on my pink cloud,

cuz i had just got clean, and on “Before I Sleep” i was totally engulfed in my addiction, this album

i think is the most realistic. I fell down, picked myself up, and life is still gonna shit on my

head. Once again, I’m a human. I’m a good guy, i laugh, cry, yell, sleep, u know, i’m not a persona.

This is me. Plus with this record I kinda wanted to go back to some of the darker elements of my

life, but I wasn’t really angry, things have been going good musically. It’s just where I was at. I

was a new father, sobriety was new, life keeps coming, I was struggling, so I can see cold. I think

my music is sounds cold. But so much emotion and soul too. The next album could be totally

different, i like to keep each project fresh, I do not make the same songs over and over, but I do

have my lane, and I’m good with that. Plus it’s real, our world is a shit hole, so music has to

reflect that. Not every song, but if i was to really get rich and blow up, I’m sure my music would

change, but for now I’m down here, underground and broke with yall, so that’s what it sounds like.

On the track “Always”, we get to see something that’s is a bit of a stranger to the average Sicarii

fan, and that’s a hint of a softer side of Sic. What was the inspiration behind the sound and feel

of this song?

Michael, my son, his mother, my family, they mean everything to me. Being a new father is crazy, now

i’m more used to it, but it was surreal to me, especially coming from where i came from. But I had

joints about my girl and my family on all my albums, “Cant Shine”, “Nothing Compares 2 U”, “Playing

With Needles” they might not be all lovey dovey but they are songs about my family. When Michael was

born, I wanted to do atleast one joint for him and his mother, and actually “Scuffed Timbs” on the

physical only version of the album, is another song about them. It was hard at first. What’s bugged

out is i have no problem telling the world about my scum baggery, but showing them this, something

so precious was tough. But like i said, my life is my music, so eventually it just came together.

For the record, that beat has the most chops of any song I ever did. Something like 60 or 70

different chops and samples. If i was gonna do it, I wanted it to be a masterpiece, cuz my son is a

masterpiece from God, and I love the song, his mom loves the song, and i think michael loves the

song. I made mad beats with him, and he nods his head to certain ones.

Now this brings me to “Da Arkitect”. Great track by the way! Everything about the song is classic

hip-hop, from the beat to the lyrics to the shots you seem to be taking at certain people on the

second verse. Is there anything you feel you need to clear up here?

Haha, thanks, well if you know me you know that i love to talk slick, and have witty lines and shit,

and “Da Arkitect” is full of that. But nah, whoever u think I took shots at, I aint take shots at. I

just used dudes names as part of the rhyme to make it dope. If i really had a problem or felt a

certain way, you would not even need to ask, I would just say “Fuck so and so”! But yeah man, there

are cats that I don’t get along with, you can’t build with everyone, and throughout the album there

are lines here and there, and I think those people know. Also I hear people throwing lines at me

here and there and all that shit will come to light, and if cats ask a question, expect an answer.

I’m an MC, I dont play that fuck shit, and names will be said…but not here. I have never tried to

pull myself up by using the next man. I’m part of the solution haha. But I will say, that I have

been putting out original product since 2001, and from 02 to 07 Kin-Dread was a very heavy presence

in the Western MA scene, so yes I have influenced dudes and birthed some styles of newer cats that

are rhyming out here. We were THEE only white boys at some of these venues, and we take credit where

credit is do. My lane is my lane. I love my lane. I love being Sicarii. I’m sure Frank White would

agree, shouts to him, that’s my brother, and we are realistic. We are humble. But on the mic? Cmon

man? Fuckouttahere! Just because we never sold a million records or was on MTV don’t mean we aint

leave bread tracks for these new dudes, the same way we followed them. I pay homage.

Your features, on this album you have some big names. How do you choose who you want to work with

and how do you know how to properly place the featured verses?

Um, I dont really be placing shit like that, it just comes together organically. Not to say I dont

use method or strategy with my music, but its gotta be natural. Every song got its own destiny, if i

make a crazy beat but only have ideas for one verse or 2 verses, I may be like, yo I should get so

and so on it. Not every collabo works out. For years I kept everything within crew, but as the game

evolves, features are a hustle now. I dont like that. But i DO like working with like minded and

career minded artists who I feel their music and respect them as an MC. Features are like WALMART

now, you say I want “one sean p verse, one statik selektah beat, oh they got a sicarii verse on sale

haha”. But that dillutes the purity of this shit. It’s stepped on, ya dig? But having guests does

provide a change of pace and gets more people involved with your shit, and makes songs iller. I try

to balance everything, and reach out to people that I know, or I know someone they know, so it’s

still kinda family. Also I dont want my shit to sound like everyone elses shit. A lot of the same

dudes are on everyone’s albums, so i try to reach out to underdog cats like myself, or people that

aren’t on everyone shit. So i keep the chemistry of my project real tight.

While we’re on the subject of features, let’s discuss the Tame One feature on “Homicide”. How did

that materialize?

Vorheez put that together. We got a good working relationship, he helps me with lots of shit, shows,

we all came up together. Problemaddicts, Kin Dread, Blacastan, The Camp, we all were doing our thing

5, 6 years ago, doing shows and shit, and all had a mutual respect. When I came out solo, and was

rolling with Krumb Snatcha I ran back into Vorheez and we just been good since then. I did 2 shows

with Tame, one was the Artifacts reunion and a solo show, and Vorheez thought since he rhymes about

leak, and i rhyme about leak, it would work. And it did! The original beat I had was way different,

some real old RZA sounding wacky shit, but I was like nah I wanna murder this with Tame, hence the

title, so I sent Vor 2 other beats to see what Tame wanted to rock. I’m a Tame fan, I don’t do songs

with dudes I don’t fuck with, and he is a cool dude, a lot of these so called big name indie rappers

come 10 minutes before they set and jet 10 minutes after. Tame was there the whole show, selling

merch, talking to fans, and the song doing good. Everyone loving it, mad blogs showing love, I never

been on blogs like that before, we had that little problem with YouTube but it aint nothing, the

song getting heard, and it crucifies shows, so i’m great with it.

Anybody who follows your music, knows that your albums trend at one per year. What is your outlook

on your next project?

First off, your right, and yeah i have ep’s and side projects that drop in between, but my solo

albums gotta stay consistent. It’s like the birth of a child, which takes 9 months, plus a few to

get it ready and out. It’s all mathematics. From knowledge to born is 9, then the completion is the

cipher, and back to knowledge, let people know it’s coming, then your wisdom, show people what it

is, then understanding, show and prove. It’s supreme mathematics. Even the release dates all

correlate and add up, I study mathematics so it’s the nature of our universe. LOL, anyway, the next

solo joint, “Da Last Crusade” I aint really afraid to say the name, cuz if anyone bites it, i will

be in your grill. But I’m always growing, raising the bar, trying to put out something stronger and

more pure. It may be a little different, a little less underground sounding, more progressive, I

like hi-hats, i like 808, i like synths, but you know how i do, it’s always gonna be Sicarii shit,

and my lane and sound is cemented. I also have 2 EP’s, Alien Arafat Part 2 entirely produced by

Karate Face, and “Raiders of the Lost Art” with Pen Pointz from Canada. Was just recording for that

today. That’s gonna be super grimey, head nod shit, AA2 is more futuristic and bugged out. I make

amazing beats, but I also know sooooooooo many great producers that send me beats, and i thoroughly

enjoy rocking those too. So I’m gonna kinda let Ice Grill breathe til next year, and demolish some

of these other producers tracks. Shout to Norman Cratez too, he is amazing, he might have the only

non Grill beat on a Sic album since “Before I Sleep”, more will be revealed on that, shouts to

DiFuture, Poppa Bear, and Configa as well, other producers i work with sometimes. I want a beat from

Sherm LaRock too, maybe for the next solo lp.

When can the people expect there next dose of “Done” from the “Clinic”?

‘Done Clinic is dead. ‘Done Clinic is my production company and the platform that me and Bishop use

to release our projects. But as a recording or performing group, it’s on ice. I tried to help

brothers out but it’s more of a fucking head ache than anything. My true people know who they are,

everyone else can eat a dick. This is why I don’t get group names tattooed on my body. But I’m still

swinging the DCSKOR flag, Suicide Kings is in full effect, trying to do an official album, we’ll

see, me and Bishop are still recording just earlier today, his debut album “Ready 4 Whatever” is in

the early stages but we got beats and ideas and I know he is gonna blow everyones minds. Leg is in

Florida, I aint really spoke to him recently. Joe Young/Karate Face is on “Tomorrow Is A Lie” and

like I said we got the EP with him on the production. I gotta keep my circle real small and tight. A

lot of people are snakes, not just artists but promoters and industry bottom feeders too, so I stick

with the cats I mess with. I’m getting older so I HAVE to focus on my career, i hope certain people

win, but I’m gonna do my thing regardless. Stay performing, promoting, getting the awareness up, and

working on new shit. “Raiders of the Lost Art EP” is the very next thing I will be on, coming out

soon. You can peep the leak of “Socio-Path” or the song “Made In America” to see what Pen & Sic got

up they sleeves…

What’s is your personal favorite track on the album and why?

I gotta say 2…first the deep one lol…”S.O.N.S.” i think is super incredible and I first made it

over a year ago and it still resonates with me. The beat is so goosebump inducing AND banging. Those

types of samples, with the big vocal sample hook, I have kinda phased that style out, cuz if a song

gets REAL big, it will be impossible to clear the sample. So this album is pretty much the last time

you gonna hear that style from me. But I have utilized that format real heavy through the years,

from “Diary Of” to “Mirrors” and i think “SONS” stands with all those songs production wise.

Lyrically, I really kept it technically simple, but painted some Pac style vivid pictures. The song,

contrary to the title, which is more a reference to the original song and where i got it from, is

about distance and success and the schism that it brings between you and the rest of the planet. 1st

verse is about being on the road, doing shows, and missing home, missing your people, u look out at

the crowd and dont see anyone you know. Which is great in another respect too. And how people around

you change as you climb that ladder. 2nd Verse is about me and wifey, and how i’m out here chasing

my dreams and once again there is distance, and sometimes maybe we want something different. 3rd

verse, which is the most true to my experience, talks about how I sacrificed every single thing in

my life for this music…but i’m good with that, cuz I love it so much. Family will always be here.

So yeah, “S.O.N.S.” is one of my favorite Sicarii moments on song, and also “Fear No Man (But

Allah)” which i wont go into detail but just say it’s an extrememly powerful posse cut and a song

that I’m honored to be a part of and have as part of my catalog. Everyone on this album is a great