JEN: How did you get involved in the music business?

MC SPICE: I started really early. Used to promote Def Jam Records at school in Brooklyn and again when I moved to Boston. Got my first record deal at 17 with Atlantic Records. I made music history, because at the time, no rappers were ever signed to Atlantic.

JEN: What was the name of that album?

MC SPICE: Never got to do an album. They didn’t know what to do with my brand of rap. I was focused on pushing a black pop hip-hop album. Some crossover, radio stuff. Did the single, "Don’t Treat Your Girly Like A Dog"

JEN: So, what happened? Did they ever let you do an
album?

MC SPICE: Naw, they started doing a few deals with other Hip-Hop labels that were a little more street,
like M.C. Lyte's people. So the deal just sorta fell through.

JEN: That sucks! What year was that?

MC SPICE: 1987

JEN: Are the songs on dmusic.com the ones that will be released on the album?

MC SPICE: Some of them. A lot of them will be scrapped. I like to do about 70 songs then decide. I’m currently at 51 songs.

JEN: Wow, why do you do 70 and then scrap it down to the amount that will be on an album?

MC SPICE: That way, u have a better variety to choose from, and a better amount of real good songs

JEN: So, you won't know for awhile which ones will end up on the album?

MC SPICE: I'll know in two weeks

MC SPICE: I can say for certain though: "I Met A
Girl"

MC SPICE: "Boston"

MC SPICE: and "Get Your Grind On'

JEN: I really liked “Boston”

MC SPICE: Thanx

JEN: But my favorite was “Remember Me”

MC SPICE: Mine too

JEN: I think it's cool that you sampled "Tears in Heaven." How did that come about?

MC SPICE: I did a version without the sample at first. A beat from Murder Inc. Then I had the idea to just do the Tears In Heaven, because it was the same meaning but two different cultures and backgrounds. Pain of death is the same sting for all of us.

JEN: did you lose someone and thus that inspired you to write that song?

MC SPICE: Every person named in the song were close to me. Friends, family members. They were all a part of my life.

JEN: I'm sorry.... That must have been a hard song to write and record.

MC SPICE: The writing and recording was therapy.

JEN: Are a lot of your songs therapy for you?

MC SPICE: Yeah.

JEN: So, you write all of your songs?

MC SPICE: Yes. Everything.

JEN: Where do you find inspiration to write so much music?

MC SPICE: Life experience.

JEN: When and how did you meet Donnie and Mark?

MC SPICE: I met Donnie through Maurice Starr. Funny thing is, The New Kids had opened up for me at a show I did with Slick Rick in like 1988. Then at the Maurice Starr Awards late 88, Donnie said: "When we
blow up, I want you to do some stuff for me."

JEN: How did you get involved with Mark's albums?

MC SPICE: I moved from Boston to Virginia Beach and settled down a little. Hit the studio to do my album, and one night Donnie called like 11pm saying he looked all over for my number. He said he wanted to fly me to Boston to discuss Mark's project and I was on the plane back to Boston that weekend. We talked, I got Mark some Big Daddy Kane tapes, some Boogie Down productions, and I started writing some songs from there. We stayed in touch, and I was always back and forth to Boston, creating the whole Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch thingy.

JEN: Can you tell me more about the song that Donnie is supposed to rap on?

MC SPICE: It's actually the “Remember Me” song. I know Donnie likes Clapton a lot, and I had the idea for him to do a verse on that one. He's a busy dude, though, so he might have to do the remix if he gets a chance.

JEN: Which song do you think will be the first single off of the album?

MC SPICE: "I Met A Girl" b/w "Feelin' Like Hell"

JEN: Is this your favorite song off the album? If so, why? If not, what is your favorite song, and why?

MC SPICE: My favorite is "My Mind Is A Battlefield." I have Bipolar Disorder and it felt good to create a song actually breaking down the things that I battle with when I'm going through a depressive period. I hope the song reaches others and brings awareness to the disease.

JEN: On "Once a Thug," why did you decide to open the song with part of a speech of Martin Luther King, Jr.?

MC SPICE: It's relevant to the times. I'm talking to these thugs who grow up thinking it's all about the streets, when in fact, it isn't. I'm asking them to think about the ones who paved the way for them. That means, even the thugs who came before them and changed their lives for the better.

JEN: The song, "My Mind is a Battlefield," is the one about bipolar disorder, correct? (This isn't the one that Donnie is rapping on, correct?)

MC SPICE: Yeah, it is. No, Donnie's not rapping on it.

JEN: What made you decide to do a song about bipolar disorder and come out with the fact that you suffer from this disorder? Do you fear that this may negatively impact your career?

MC SPICE: It won’t affect it any more than it affects people who act out the pattern, but get no help. There are so many celebrities who may suffer but are losing their tempers on the set, or not showing up for work because they're depressed. If anything, it will help. And if does hinder my career advancement, then, so long cruel entertainment world. I could care less about ya.

M.C. Spice is a proud member of Greater Love Tabernacle Church in Dorchester, Massachusetts