When the scene unfolds Khujo now 51 years old reminisces on the legacy he and his fellow group mates produced with one dynamic verse after another. This noteworthy scene could easily lead to the ending credits, nevertheless it’s been curated perfectly as the opening of the Hip Hop legend’s second act. 28 years after Goodie Mob’s debut album, Soul Food, the seasoned rapper persists in cooking up delicious music for his fan. In his second act, Khujo continues to rap with purpose but intends to really let his hair down. The “Git Dey Azz” artist wants to have fun and enjoy the freedom that comes when creating independently. Industry Rules sits with the legendary Goodie Mob member and peeks into the window of his second act.
RA: Starting out with the group “Six Sense” and obviously being in Goodie Mob. You came up writing music and releasing music with a team. What is it like now making music solo?
KG: The thing about Six Sense, I wasn’t really rhyming but I was still in the stage of writing. I kept wondering when I would be able to rap. It was Big Gipp and Ray Murray who were rapping at the time and I was just sitting in the shadows. The difference is, now, I actually get a chance to say what I’m writing. Back then I wasn’t ready yet. Now with that experience behind me, I write with confidence. When you’re a part of a group you can only say so much in 16 bars, but when you get a chance to do your solo stuff you’re able to complete a thought and go deeper. I definitely honed and sharpened my skills being in a group. There was definitely friendly competition in the group. Say T-Mo might rap before me and I’m like “damn man he just buss hard so the pressure on now.” It brings the best out of you when you’re in a group.
RA: When Goodie Mob got together, you guys were determined to put Atlanta on the map and gain the respect of your East coast peers. When do you think that moment was when you realized you proved to everyone The group is just as great?
KG: That moment came when we got our props from New York, cause’ back then if New York don’t like you or you can’t survive with New York it’s gon’ be really really tough. But once I seen we were able to go to New York, perform at the Apollo with the
Dungeon Family, do Get Rich To This with Backbone and do the Dungeon Family songs; that was all the confirmation we needed right there. Once you conquer New York every other state is going to be easy.
RA: Is there a moment when Goodie Mob started and you were in the studio with Outkast that you knew that the groups were going to be this huge?
KG: I didn’t think we were going to make history, I just thought we were having fun man. We would spend the night at the Dungeon in sleeping bags. It was a home away from home. When I was there, I didn’t have to worry about my mom nagging me cause’ I was still living with my mom at the time. We just had a good time over there making music. It was awesome man. If we do a sitcom or something like that, that’s got to be in there.
RA: It was heart wrenching to hear about your traumatic car accident. What gave you the courage to keep pushing forward and to keep rapping after losing your leg in your accident in 2002?
KG: Yeah that was tough man, it really played on my mental. I didn’t want to rap no more. I didn’t want to be seen no more. I thought nobody would want to see a one legged rapper. I thought it was over for me, but I had the help of my wife and my sons. One of my sons said “Don’t worry about it Daddy, I’ll be your leg for you.” With that type of support you can’t do nothing but progress and keep going. I was just showing my sons that no matter what happens in life, you just keep doing the best that you can do. Once you give it your all, you can be confident and say ‘hey I gave it my all and it is what it is.” So family definitely held me down. Goodie Mob held me down. I had a number of people come by my house and just show me love. I remember The DOC came to my crib, l’m like how do you even know where I stay?! He came to my house and straight showed me love. Ludacris and Chaka Zulu came by the house and just showed me love and it brought tears to my eyes. One of my old school classmates, Glen Cook, was there for me too. It was all about family, my family kept me grounded, kept my confidence up and kept me inspired and motivated. That’s why I was able to drop that Man Not the Dawg album, which was my first solo record.
RA: You come from a background of conscious rap, what do you feel like is the message of your music now?
KG: I would categorize my music now as balance. It’s about having a balance right now. Being a part of Goodie Mob I was always focused on saying something that
somebody can take, use and relate to. My brother was telling me to try to have some fun and have a good time and I’m trying to get back to that. The goal is to have fun with the music but still give somebody something they can take away and use. For me it’s about putting that nugget in there or that jewel in there, so you can come back 5 or 10 years later and it’s still relevant. Just like our Soul Food music is still relevant. In 2020 so many people streamed and sampled our Cell Therapy song. It’s about putting something real in your music so it can stand the test of time. I rather be rapping about some soul food instead of rapping about doing something crazy.
RA: Your fans can tell that you really love what you do, because you keep giving them more and more music decades later from The Man Not the Dawg to the K Files you just don’t stop. What can we expect from the new music you are releasing now?
KG: This new single I’m ready to drop, Git Dey Azz, I’m having so much fun with that. It’s a motivational song, and it came to me when I went to a show Ceelo was doing. I seen him rocking the crowd and I was just cheering him on. It’s all about having fun but still delivering some kind of message. Say you got a partna’ that’s coming up to bat. It’s the last inning, it’s two outs, you got the bases loaded and this is your designated hitter. So you’re going to be cheering him on, like “come on dawg you can do it, you got it!” It’s inspiring to me and really motivating to me, so if it’s really motivating to a person that’s my age, it can be motivating to somebody else. April 7th I’m also getting ready to drop a mixed CD called Paved Mentality, it’s inspired by independent artists. I put a post out on instagram and these artists hit me in my DMs. I went through a whole bunch of songs and pulled out a lot jewels. Also, my fans can find more exclusive content of mine that I don’t post on Instagram on my Youtube channel, @KhujoGoodiezone1.
