"Perc is nice, worth the price, every verse entice / one of the most praised men to surface twice on the earth since Christ / ideas I lay are light years away from what's here today / all my peers I slay, stand back, two grand, rip you and your whole crew, man / the true fans know who can bring heat like in the Sudan, black"
BIRTHPLACE: Brooklyn, New York
AGE: 35
AREA YOU REPRESENT: Patterson Projects, South Bronx, New York
GOVERNMENT NAME: John Percy Simon
ORIGIN OF YOUR NAME: Percy is my middle name. My family always called me by my middle name, so I put two 'e's on the end like the old school MCs, like Kool Moe Dee, or Spoonie Gee. I used the Rhyme Inspector as a name because a lot of old-school MCs and DJs use to put titles in front of their names, like Grandmaster Flash or Grand Wizzard Theodore, etc.
YEARS ON THE MIC: I've been emceeing since 1979. I started by watching my uncle and my oldest brother, and all the crews that used to rock at 18 Park in front of my building and the surrounding areas.
WHY YOU MADE HIP-HOP YOUR CAREER: I have a musical family. My mom moved to Pat- terson Projects when I was three years old. I've seen hip-hop from the beginning. Hip-hop was all I knew growing up. I got into it to strongly at the age of 10. 1 like the feeling that the MCs gave the people when they was rockin' in the parks when I was coming up.
YOUR STYLE: Rhythmical – I make flows with words. Graphic – you can visualize what I'm saying. Unorthodox. Wordplay – how I manipulate my words to the beat. I control my words well.
COLLABORATORS: Lord Finesse, J-Dilla, Madlib, Showbiz, Cut Chemist, Godfather Don, Paul Nice, Big Daddy Kane, Aesop Rock, Kool Keith, C-Rayz Walz, Poison Pen, Jurassic 5, WildChild, Medaphoar, Planet Asia, AG, and many more.
DISCOGRAPHY: "Let the Homicides Begin" 12" (Gotham City Records, 1988) "Respect Costs More Than Money" 12" (VMax Records, 1996) "Scary Thoughts" 12" b/w "It's Over" (Makin' Millz Records, 1996) "Everybody" 12" b/w "Makin Millz" (Makin' Millz Records, 1998) The One And Only. The Best OF Percee P (85 Records) Legendary Status, mix CD (2005)
RECORD LABEL: Stones Throw Records. I signed with them because they are very respected, and they are good people. It's good to have a good relationship with who you're signed with. I feel that they acknowledge and respect me as an artist.
NEW RELEASE: The new album is called Percerverance. I got something for everybody, without me changing who I am. I hope to inspire cats to want to write rhymes and get on their grind. Madlib and J-Dilla are producing, and Cut Chemist will be on the remix. Jurassic 5, Wildchild, Medaphoar, Diamond D, Lord Quas and Prince Poetry will appear. The name of the first single is called "Untitled". Madlib produced it. It has the boom-bap sound. I'm spittin', coming at you hard, and it has a dope remix.
HOW'S YOUR FREESTYLE: I respect freestyle. In the past freestyle was just bussin' a rhyme. Today it's spittin' spontaneous unwritten verses. I'm more of a writer, old-school.
YOUR TAKE ON HIP-HOP: The best cats I know are not the ones you see on videos. There are some good artists out there that are not being heard. Hip-hop has changed a lot. I think a lot of people in hip-hop today do not know the roots of hip-hop. Hip-hop artists today will steal pioneers hooks and beats, but will not try to collaborate with them or give them acknowledgement.
SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT YOURSELF: I listen to a lot of old school slow jams. Groups from the '6Os and the '70s. The Temprees, the Escorts, the Soul Generation, the Lost Gen- eration, the Brighter Shade of Darkness, Linda Jones.
YOUR STRONGEST POINT: I have perseverance. I do not quit.
YOUR WEAKEST POINT: My name is out everywhere, but I need to do shows where my name is. I have fans out there, and I'm not in their city giving them the best of Percee P live.
LAST WORDS: Life is nothing but a classroom. The more experience you get from applying yourself, the better you get as time goes by. For instance, if someone placed you in a karate class at age ten, by the time you're 30 you should have mastered your craft, if you practiced faithfully. That applies to emceeing, DJing, b-boying, graf writing, everything. God blesses those who help themselves.