Your album's at 3 million. Will Smith's is at 4 million. What does that tell you about the state of hip-hop?
Will did a great thing for hip hop --he brought light onto it, exposed people to it who normally wouldn't be listenin'. Some people are gonna love and stick with Will. Some people are gonna say, "I wanna little more edge to my music." The more educated people are, the more they're gonna look for the cream of the crop.

Do you mean your own work?
Yeah.

You wouldn't say Will is the cream of the crop?
Me and Will make different music. He's a very creative person. I think mine has more edge and is more reality- based than his.

What would you say to those who say your latest album is, in many ways, a Puffy album with incredible lyrics?
People could say that about "Hard Knock." Puffy could probably use that, but I can't see Puffy rappin' over "If I Should Die," or "Can I Get A..." Nah. No beats that I've ever heard him rap to was similar to "Can I Get A..." or the Too Short record or the Bleek record or "Paper Chase." I can't see him rappin' to none of those tracks.

In what ways would you say your life is the same as the average brother working hard at UPS?
There's more similarities than not. It's a demanding job. People imagine every day is shrimp, lobster, and champagne -but I'm in marketing meetings, we're arguin' constantly, I'm fightin' to get records played, videos played, get vinyl in. It's not easy. Not to knock anyone who works at UPS.

Could you ever go back to the life you lived before?
I don't think any rapper can go back. You can be a car salesman, a bank teller -I mean, really good jobs, and people are still gonna look at you and be like, "You used to rap; what happened?"

Would you ever go back to selling drugs? How much are you trying to downplay the fact that you used to sell drugs - especially now with your increased visibility?
It's a part of me. It happened. I don't regret it. It shaped me as a person. It's a thing that, whether I rap about it or not, exists. So I'd rather shed light on the situation - in an indirect way. I don't wanna preach. I know it's a lotta people out there going through the same struggles and the same thing I've been through. 'You're not a Martian, you're not an unusual person. I understand your struggle, I've been through the same thing.' And that's what I think is happening right now. There's a lotta people relatin' to my story. I don't hide it, I don't avoid it, I don't send my publicists out with 'Don't ask me these questions.' Nothin' to hide.

Is it true that you had a sexual relationship with Foxy Brown while she was underage?
Oh, no. It's a total untruth.

But you had a relationship with her?
A working relationship.

Only a working relationship?
Yeah. A working relationship. I know at times people hinted at [that]...because she is young. She's been in the public eye since she was underage. Even if she wasn't young, we just not there, you know what I mean? And I know people [are] gonna say that, especially if you get the kind of reputation I have. But it just never happened.

How much do you value the wealth and fame? If it all ended tomorrow, if you woke up and were-
As long as I was comfortable. Money is just-

Suppose you weren't comfortable?
Then I'd have to do something to be comfortable.

What would you do?
I don't know.

Would you go back to the drug game?
If I was put in a situation of hopelessness-

Tomorrow. You're not in Miami, you're not at the hotel, and nobody's around, and you're just like, 'Where am I?' And you have to get out of this?
I'm the type of person, I'm liable to do anything. If I'm in a hopeless and desperate situation, I'm gonna do anything I can to get outta that situation. I just won't accept it.

What do you consider the ultimate good?
To create a comfortable position for me and everybody around me. Like we doin' with Roc-A-Fella. 'Cause, like, Blacks, when we come up, we don't normally inherit businesses. That's not a common thing for us to have old money, like three and four generations, inheriting our parents' businesses. That's what we workin' on right now. A legacy.

What is it that you learned from selling drugs that you use every day, in terms of doing business?
This is the funny thing: You gotta abide by certain rules when you in the street. It's a certain code you have to operate on to have a good run, where not everybody wanna kill you. And the music business is totally opposite. I was operatin' with that [street] code and that loyalty and that honor and that whole ethic. And they wasn't operatin' that way. So I had to change my ways.

How were they operating?
Like, with Priority, I had a messed-up contract. And everyone knew. But we didn't know. We was like, 'Why were we...?' But they was like, 'Why you so offended? It's just business.' To them it's good business; to us it was deceit.

Transport it to the street. What would happen?
A person wouldn't try you like that. Because either you would have to kill them, or they would kill you. When you make that kinda move, you gotta know that either you prepared to go to war or you prepared to die.

Or both.
Yeah. You can go to war and die [laughs].

I was speaking to Clark Kent. I said, 'Jay's the kind of person that if you confronted him a certain way, or you looked into his eyes, you wouldn't see hate, fear, or anger. You would just see nothing.'
I lost a lotta girls like that.

I'm glad you brought that up [laughter].
It's real, man.

No wife, no kids. I'm a private person [as far as] the female I deal with. I don't wanna put that type of pressure on them. [People] mark women once you do that.

Some say celebrities do that because in every city, there's somebody thinking, I'm that [celeb's] one-and-only.
Nah. I mean, it would be much better for a celebrity to have a significant other. Because everyone else - they know their place. It's not like a girl's not gonna date you 'cause she knows you're married - I hope the public don't believe that. It really doesn't make a difference. It actually makes everything fall in line better. You know, like, 'This is my wife, and me and you, we have relations. It simplifies.' You say you lost a lot of girls that way. They can't read me. They don't know, in their words, "whether I care or not."

Do you express anger with heat or with cold?
More calm. Outta anger you make, foolish moves. I made one foolish move when I was younger.

Which was?
When I, uh, shot my brother.

Tell me about that.
It was a very stupid thing. He was messed up at that time. He'd took a ring of mine. It was very, very foolish, you know, like a two-finger ring, but way back then... and it was like a certain thing leading up to these events. I acted outta anger. Since that incident, I've never lost it like that.

Where did you hit him with the bullet?
In his shoulder.

What kind of gun did you use?
A little gun, like a Dillinger.

Was that the only time you ever shot anybody?
Yeah.

You've said you've never killed anybody. But you also said that if you had, you wouldn't say.
Yeah. Nah, I wouldn't tell you.

Which means you could say no, but mean ultimately, yes.
[Laughs] It could mean that, but I'm just being a realist. I wouldn't just say no and leave it like that.

Did you sell crack to your mother?
When I said that, I meant [it as a] a metaphor for, like, the mothers of our nation.

But did you or did you not?
Nah.

What's your relationship like with your mom?
Beautiful. Like brother and sister.

What does she do?
Like, investment banking.

Is she an investment banker, or does she work in an investment banking office?
She works in the office. She's a supervising clerk.

How about your father?
He works odd jobs. After I was 12, I never knew where he was workin'. I never kept up with him, so-

Have you seen him in your adult life at all?
I haven't seen him for maybe four to five years.

Do you have any sisters?
Two sisters, one brother. I'm the youngest [child].

What do your siblings do for a living?
My brother lives in upstate New York. He always cut hair, so he's trying to get a barbershop. My sisters, they got different jobs.

Are you close to them?
Yeah. One of my sister's names is Andrea, but we call her Annie. That's how the Annie sample came about. When I seen that on TV, I was like, 'Annie?' And then, I watched the movie.

So that's how it became a part of your childhood.
Right. That's why we root for villains - the Scarfaces of the world - anybody placed in a situation of underdog, and they have some type of success, be it short-lived. We never pay attention to the ending, just the good parts. Anybody that comes from that situation and rises above that, we're with them. Think about that. From Marcy Projects to owning your own company? Any person that goes from ashy to classy or, you know, is from the orphanage or the projects - it's pretty similar. Instead of treated we get tricked, instead of kisses we get kicked - that's how every ghetto person feels. Like nothing good is gonna ever happen to you.

People talk about your lyrics being, at first glance, very simple, but having a lot of stuff underneath.
Yeah, it's like double meanings. I hide those all over, like Easter eggs.

What was your relationship with Biggie?
We knew each other since Westinghouse High School. We'd see each other, and we'd nod. Then we both was in the music business, and we always said, 'We gotta hook up and do something together.' Finally we did "Brooklyn's Finest." That's when we clicked. I sat there, he sat there. I was like, "Yo, you need a pen?" No pen. That's how I make my music, too. It was crazy, it was ill for me.

You don't write lyrics down?
No, not at all.

There's no rhyme book anywhere?
There was one green notebook from when I was young. I don't know where it's at. It's a shame.

All that stuff is in your head? How do you do that?
I just do it. Like, right now I got a couple of verses - in my head. Just verses.

So at some point you're going to have a whole album sitting in your head, and then you have to download it as such?
Yeah. But it never gets that far. I'll get three songs, the most, and then I'll do 'em, and then I'll get three songs again. But about the relationship: That night Big and I went to Bernie Mac, and ever since it's been, like, all the time on the phone.

Until he was killed.
Yeah.

I know you gotta get on the plane.
Interviews can be the same monotonous bullshit. Or they can ask interesting questions and make you wanna talk. As long as it's like this, a conversation between two people, I could talk for five hours.

We should do that, man.
I could yap.