SpiceRadio.Com: What's good, dog? You're back on the grind again. Where are you living right now?

TQ: I'm jumpin' around as far as where I live. I'm livin' in Los Angeles, livin' in Las Vegas, Atlanta; all over the place. I'm in New York at the moment, but I'm from Compton.

SpiceRadio.Com: Your first featured LP, Never Saw Me Comin' was with Epic Records. How was the deal with that label, and have you learned anything about the game from that?

TQ: When I first got there [Epic Records] it was great. You know what I'm sayin'? But the people who signed me was fired in the middle of the project, and the new people just weren't with me, and didn't share the same outlook as I did. One thing I've learned is, I don't care how good the song is...it's gotta have a home. Some records just ain't good for certain companies.

SpiceRadio.Com: Right, and your brand of R&B aint no Michael Jackson [TQ's former label mate] stuff.

TQ: Right. Believe that. But on top of that, Michael Jackson's albums didn't do too much. So, evidentially, that genre of music aint really for them [Epic]. They seem to be doin' a little better now, but my style is a little edgy and street, and they're not a street label.

SpiceRadio.Com: Your formula is hard core Hip-Hop scenarios and R&B deliveries. Is that gonna be the same vibe on this new album?

TQ: I mean, I'm always gonna be me, but the one thing I wanna shake this time around is the label, 'TQ, The Rapper' and I'm not a rapper by a long shot. I never tried to be, because I'm not a rapper, I'm wack at it. I aint no rapper, I'm a singer. And this record, I really want people to know that. So, instead of all of the deep concerts and intricate words and metaphors, I wanna focus on traditional R&B. I didn't want to alienate the other people who bought the first album, so we start off the LP with some on-the-block songs, with about seven love-making joints and back to two or three on-the-block songs again. It's somethin' for everybody on this record.

SpiceRadio.Com: When I heard Jahiem, I said, 'Wait a minute, this is the East Coast version of TQ.' You feel the same?

TQ: Yeah. I think HE feels that way, too. Anybody that knows my record, knows that. I don't have a problem with it, 'cuz that's what I've wanted to see. I wanted to see some more cats talkin' about life, as opposed to so much love in R&B. I mean, at the same time, if you're gonna talk about love, put some life into it, 'cuz everybody's relationship aint honky dory. At the time when my record came out, all R&B had to offer was, 'I Love you, baby.' Now we see a slew of R&B cats hustling with it, slingin' with it. They do it all. The great part about it, a lot of cats pay homage. They know who did it first. I feel good bein' one of the pioneers of that style of R&B.

SpiceRadio.Com: What about the group, TCJ? TQ, Jahiem, Chico Debarge. Sounds like a good idea?

TQ: (Laughs) TCJ, huh? I might look into doin' a joint like that, man. For real for real.

SpiceRadio.Com: Hey, it just looks like you three are doing the 2k version of what Marvin Gaye was doing. A little bit of love and a little bit of life.

TQ: To me, that's the essence of soul. The soul aspect of R&B is what makes people love it. The soul is art imitating life.

SpiceRadio.Com: Your influences aint just R&B. Your influences are mixed, right? Pac? Eazy E? [Ice] Cube?

TQ: Exactly. I gotta admit, I'm more rap-influenced than I am R&B. It was NWA for me, dog. From the time they came out, until the time Eazy died. That's what I'm about and that's what I connect with the most. It just so happens that I can't rap, I'm a singer. My moms wouldn't let me listen to anything but HER records. And HER records were Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway. I'm half-hardcore-rap and half-old-school R&B.

SpiceRadio.Com: The songs you had about the death of a homeboy's girlfriend, 'Bye Bye Baby?' songs like, 'Comeback'. Will we hear songs like that on this album?

TQ: You gonna hear 'em again. I did some hustling on this record, but not as shocking as 'Bye Bye Baby' and 'Comeback'. I feel that, everybody is changing and doing what I do, so I wanna flip the game some and do it a little differently. I really wanna be known as singer after it's all said and done.

SpiceRadio.Com: Reflecting on your past, you had a few ins and outs in the streets. Did you have to go through anything in the hood that was life-changing for you?

TQ: Sh** yeah. I had to grow up fast and deal with things I really shouldn't have. From slingin' to gettin' caught up on gang bullsh** and all that. Watchin' people overdose on things I was bringin' em...You name it, I got caught up in it. My big influence in my hood was Eazy E. He had the hood on lock. I used to watch him before he even did music. Eazy was the biggest dope dealer in my city. Before rap, Eazy had all the cars, all the women and all the money. I remember him comin' through with the low riders and we'd yell, 'Eazy, hit them switches'. That's what I wanted to be.

SpiceRadio.Com: So you wanted to follow Eazy E's whole lifestyle from the slingin' to the music?

TQ: All across the board. Eazy's name meant money. He was a ghetto superstar before he even started rappin'. Everybody my age from that hood, at one point, wanted to be Eazy E.

SpiceRadio.Com: So, was the death of Eazy E. hard on you?

TQ: Yeah, it hurt. It hurt bad. Eazy was a gangster, man. Eazy was our hero. He was superman to us. For him to go out like that [AIDS], come on, man. He was a gangster. He was suppose to go out in a blaze of glory. He was supposed to go out like John Wayne. Ride off into the sunset or die in a shootout. Give me somethin' dramatic. Not somethin' like that. I don't think the West Coast will ever overcome Eazy's death for years. Especially my city, it just aint the same without him.

SpiceRadio.Com: Was Eazy a real gangster to you?

TQ: I know for a fact what was goin' on. Eazy was slingin' that Yay [crack] period. He was a hustler. He wasn't Crippin' heavy, but in my neighborhood, he was the ghetto superstar. It wasn't really gang-bangin, but he was hustlin' hard. People can say what they want and call him what they want. He was just hustlin' and makin' that money. And that's really what we knew him for.

SpiceRadio.Com: Now speakin' of Crippin'. Is Blue your favorite color? We've seen it as the main color on your album covers. Is it on like that?

TQ: Naw, not at all. I'm just accustomed to wearin' it, [blue] and I came from a hood wear we couldn't wear red when I was young in my neighborhood. Some of my closest friends are Bloods, and some of my closest friends are Crips. But that's just my favorite color.

SpiceRadio.Com: Coming up in your hood in Compton, does wearing one color still have the rivals looking at you like you were a Crip, regardless?

TQ: You're automatically guilty by association, yeah. But it wasn't about having to wear blue. But in my neighborhood, you couldn't wear red. For me, blue was my favorite color since I was a kid. It was easy to get caught up, and a lot of times I did. Some of my family were OG's in the gangs in my hood. But people know, for the most part, I aint a gang banger. I was into hustlin'. That was really it. But a brother that says he's a Blood, I know what he goes through everyday. A brother that says he's a Crip, I know what it is that he goes through everyday, and I respect 'em.

SpiceRadio.Com: You're known to buy a lot of rap albums. Are you still buying some nowadays?

TQ: Yeah, I have the new Blueprint LP [Jay Z].

SpiceRadio.Com: Is it any truth to the street saying that East Coast cats need a ghetto pass when they get in LA?

TQ: Yeah. I know, being from the city, aint no rapper going to LA without being approached. Hell yeah, you have to have a pass to freely roam around LA. It aint gonna happen like that. They will bust your head out there quick. You will get approached constantly, like, 'Who are you and who are you holdin' your alliance to?"

SpiceRadio.Com: Any East Coast rappers ever get approached that you know of?

TQ: Yeah, I know. But I aint sayin no names, though.

SpiceRadio.Com: As far as you're concerned, you're straight with a ghetto pass, right?

TQ: Yeah, I'm straight. I'm the son of LA. So, they know me as coming out the gate singin' West Side til I die. I think everybody recognizes that, and I think my whole city is thankful. That's my city, that's my home, that's what I love. I got love for every hustler, every mother and child...I'm always reppin' LA.

SpiceRadio.Com: You had a job at A&M Records, right?

TQ: Well, I had this hustle game goin on, and my mom sent me to Atlanta to stay with my aunt. I got kicked out of the house for being a knucklehead. My mom was tired of seein' money come in by the wads with no job. The only way I could come home was with a job, so it just so happened I got a summer job at a record label. That's how I got discovered. Last day at work, I rushed this lady that was signing a group, and told her I can sing, and she's still my manager today.

SpiceRadio.Com: So where did you tell moms where the money was coming from?

TQ: I had a cold game, man. I had a backpack full of clippers. I told her I was stayin' after school cuttin' hair on the school's football team or basketball team. It was workin' until she actually started countin' the money.

SpiceRadio.Com: You had all those clippers. How many clippers can you hold in one hand?

TQ: (Laughs) You know what I'm sayin? My hustle was guns, more than anything. It all came to a head when she found one under my pillow one day. I don't know what possessed her to clean up my room after ten years (laughs). I came home one day after football practice one day, and she was sitting at the kitchen table with a UZI, and asked, 'What is this doin' here?'

SpiceRadio.Com: Did you ever had to break it down and let her know?

TQ: Once we agreed that I can come back home and get a job, she flew to Atlanta to talk to me. When we came back home, we sat at the table and I told her everything I was doing. I'll never forget she gave me the coldest left hook I've ever felt.

SpiceRadio.Com: Have you changed since that?

TQ: Oh yeah, that was the shot that rocked my life (laughs) right there.

SpiceRadio.Com: What was your hook-up?

TQ: (Laughs) Ha! I'll NEVER tell!

SpiceRadio.Com: So, what did you have somebody's UPS account number and started shippin' sh** in?

TQ: (Laughs) You was real close with that one, boy. Listen at you. You wasn't all the way there, but you was close.

SpiceRadio.Com: Working at A&M Records, did you learn a lot about the game?

TQ: I learned a lot of it. I was there to make a lot of people love me and give me extra parts of the game. That's what ended up happening. I ended up working at every department of the label. I really wanted to see the business side of it first before I became an artist. I saw the ins and outs of what it takes to put a record out. I'm about research.

SpiceRadio.Com:: I'll drop some names, you drop whatever comes to mind. Ice Cube.

TQ: King of LA

SpiceRadio.Com: Bobby Brown

TQ: He started all the dancin' and sh**. As far as all the Ushers and Ginuines, Bobby Brown started all that. He added that masculine flavor, and he was a real nigga.

SpiceRadio.Com: Doctor dre

TQ: Greatest Producer of all time, took Quincy Jones' spot.

SpiceRadio.Com: Ice T

TQ: Stone Cold Hustler