Artist: Mike Jones
Interviewer: Melanie Cornish

As he gears up for his sophomore album, Mike Jones has a lot to say and a lot to show the world. Doubling up with his American Dream project, which is slated to hit shelves in May, Mike Jones is giving fans an opportunity to watch a DVD which depicts his life story and gives his followers the 411 on just what the realities of his world really are. Paying it forward is pretty much the mantra which this Texas Titan follows; having been guided down the right path by his leading lady, Mike Jones has never let anything get the better of him. Even when he was close to throwing in the towel he kept his goals and ambition higher on his personal list of priorities than say his ego.

Here in this candid discussion with Soundslam.com, Mike Jones talks 'Who,' he talks 'Why' and he talks 'What,' without holding anything back.

SoundSlam: Your new album is called the American Dream, why did you opt to go with that title?

Mike Jones: It's basically showing a guy, and that is why I came out with the movie to explain it, it is showing a guy who went from zero to a hero with the help of my Grandmother, God and with a strong team around me and how I can live the American Dream. Once you watch the movie and see what I've been through it will encourage you to live the same dream of your own, no matter what barriers and hurdles you come your way. Some people get rejected one or two times and they want to give in and they think 'Mike Jones, he never got rejected.' But watch the movie you'll see what I gone through; people dissing me, girls not wanting to holla, people looking at my CD and throwing it on the ground in my face. I wanted to give up myself but in the DVD I am showing them that I had faith, I got someone who had faith in me, these people around me weren't just there because I blew up we been cool before the rap game. In the DVD you will see about the new artists coming out, you will know about his situation, you will know about my situation and be able to look and say 'Damn Mike Jones did all that. You know if he went through all that I know I can make it through mine.' It will allow people to live their dream too.

SoundSlam: Do you believe that you are living the American Dream now then?

Mike Jones: Yeah I am living it. I don't have to want for nothing, I'm able to help out people, provide for people in need. In Houston I took some kids and gave them a thousand dollars and took them to the mall so they could go buy clothes and stuff. A thousand dollars is a lot of money for kids to go school shopping. Thanksgiving came and me and Lil Flip bought loads of turkeys and handed them out in the parking lot so people could come and get free food. I am living the "American Dream" and blessing everyone else the way I was blessed. Around Xmas time when the 'Grinch' stole all the kids toys, me and Flip came out and gave a truck load of toys to kids as we didn't want their holidays to be ruined by the thief who stole their toys.

SoundSlam: There is a lot of giving that goes on in the Hip-Hop community, yet the media would rather concentrate on the negatives. As someone who gives so much back, does this bother you?

Mike Jones: I hate that. I mean for example I have a club called Ice Age on a Sunday and people are always talking about this club and if there is a shoot out or if I was to do something to a girl in a negative way there will be all types of press, but when I help the kids and when I feed families and give kids toys I have to go through a waiting list of appointments to get press just to get out. There was another club called End Bar and they are really good friends of mine and a little incident happened there and once that happened, everyone who is in the news was over there filming; yet when I bring celebrities to my club you can't get press there. All the news stations come for the negative but they never come out for something positive.

SoundSlam: Nowadays rappers are being compared to motivational speakers in some circumstances, would you agree with that?

Mike Jones: Yeah I totally agree, that is why I am showing people they can come up and make money too. I was in their shoes, wishing I was on BET and stuff and back then there wasn't a rapper telling me that I could do that. I wouldn't say I am a role model but I would say I am a guy that people can look at. I mean I dropped out of school and when I did that everyone looked at me like I was going to amount to nothing. This was part of the reason I made the movie to show this.

SoundSlam: Is the movie coming with the CD?

Mike Jones: Yeah it will be a double disc thing.

SoundSlam: Now back to the alum, you have been working with a producer from New York called Amadeus?

Mike Jones: Oh man that is my homie; he is about 95% close to being in-house.

SoundSlam: He has quite a few tracks on the album I believe.

Mike Jones: Yeah man I got about eight tracks off him and by the time the album was finished I think he has three on there. He did one song with Trey Songz, called "I know", he did a song called "I Am Sorry," which is with Pimp C and Lil Mo and then he did one I did with Jim Jones and Cam'ron called "I believe."

SoundSlam: Would you rather work with just one producer on a project?

Mike Jones: I mean I like to work with everybody, but for the record when I did Who is Mike Jones, that was my first release and I had to prove something to the world that I meant something to the game and I wanted to do songs with this celebrity and then that celebrity, but because I wasn't platinum or gold, they wouldn't do songs with me. I faced a lot of rejection from celebrities, so I had to start from scratch again and now I am talking about what I know. People always ask me why I am talking about the lean, the grillz, the candy paint, making out that that is all I know which isn't the case, but when I try to invite people on songs, and those celebrities and people you wanted to feature on the song turn you down, you have to play with the cards you were dealt with. Once when I blew up, people came back around asking if I wanted them to do the songs, but I was good then.

SoundSlam: So the second album is like your first album then?

Mike Jones: Yes because now I am able to do the songs that I really wanted to do in the first place. On the first album I didn't really have an R&B jam on there, it was strictly street and it was a male album.

SoundSlam: You have Trey Songz on there and Lil Mo adding some R&B flavor is there any other notables on the project?

Mike Jones: I have Pimp C, I have a song called "Tender Loving" with Bobby Brown and T.I. Now the first album was strictly a street album as when I did try to explore the people I wanted to do songs with turned me down. It was hard, you know I was thinking 'damn this is my first album' but now I can work with whoever I want to as I went platinum as obviously you had to sell a certain amount of records for this person to work with you or that person to work with you. So I went back to Swalhi, he did "Still Tippin'," he did "Sideways," because when all the producers wouldn't mess with us because we weren't known, we had to go with who we knew and we went to him and that is why he did the majority of the album to get back to your question. So once all this took off, all the other producers wanted to come along and submit beats, but I was like 'nah I am just going to mess with my same people.' You know Amadeus did the "Grandma" track on the first album, Swalhi did the "Still Tippin'" and "Back Then" and now I have "Six Four" with me, Slim Thug and Snoop Dog on there. I have a song called "Like What I Got" which he did and a song called "Turning Heads" that he also did. Those songs are crazy. Now I have more freedom with the album.

SoundSlam: So after you blew up and people saw what you were actually capable of, what did you tell those who had doubted you before, 'hell no?'

Mike Jones: That is exactly what I said. I wanted to go against the grain on the first album, but since the celebrities didn't want to do it I had to go back to the street and now I have both; songs for the streets, songs for the ladies.

SoundSlam: So do you think people will be shocked with this album?

Mike Jones: Man, they gonna be shocked. People are telling me now, Bryan Michael Cox said to me 'I didn't know you were a songwriter, I thought you were strictly a rapper,' people just don't know. I was judged on my first album which had a lot of songs that satisfied my core, but I got songs too that are going to open the eyes of women.

SoundSlam: There was actually another rapper called Mic Jones and that was his government, but he chose to change his name after you came onto the scene as he saw how you branded your name and made it yours. Was this something you set out to do from the jump, you know brand yourself?

Mike Jones: See, like I said, the movie will clear up everything as a lot of my ideas, people who look at it as a branding idea or a gimmick and I got this from my Grandmother. It shows in the movie of when I dropped out of school and DJs used to look at me and be like 'Who are you?' and I would be like 'Mike Jones,' and they would be like 'Who?' and I would say 'Mike Jones' and they would look at the CD and throw it on the ground, I would go home and I used to be down and my Grandmother would always lift me up when I told her what was going on, so she said 'use that, soon everyone will be looking to find out who 'who is Mike Jones.' I didn't think it was going to work, but I tried it and then when I started blowing up on the underground game people started booking fake shows for Mike Jones, so I was telling my Grandma again and se said, 'do something someone else ain't done, you have to be accessible to the people,' as I haven't seen someone give out their number or their e mail and talk to the fans,' and I wasn't going to do it but then when I gave out the number people was calling like crazy. It went from me nipping in the bud the fake shows to people calling to say what's up. So from then on, every idea that came, it came from my Grandma and before I ever really got a chance to thank her, she passed away. So that is why when you open up the American Dream, you are going to see my Grandmothers face there.

SoundSlam: So is it a dedication to your Grandmother, this album?

Mike Jones: Every album I am going to drop is going to be a dedication to my Grandmother; every album will have her face in it. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my grandmother and getting credit for the marketing I it wasn't for her. It wouldn't be called a gimmick if it wasn't for her. She told me she saw a vision of this working and this is why on the first album I did that track called Grandmother with Amadeus and then the movie will make you see why Mike Jones does what he does or did what he did.

SoundSlam: Are you content with where you are at in your career?

Mike Jones: I mean, if things were to stop today I would be good for life, but I have to strive to be better as there are people counting on me and I am trying to open up this and open up that and trying to stay busy and prove to people that I can come back and be Mr. Jones and sell another mill and go platinum. I stayed away from the game so people wouldn't be tired of hearing Mike Jones.

SoundSlam: But isn't that the best way, to build up anticipation?

Mike Jones: Yeah, that's why I did it this way and the Mr. Jones single is crazy.

SoundSlam: How do you keep in touch with your fans these days, you still have the phone number?

Mike Jones: Yeah I have had it turned on and off a few times but it is on and we are good now. I was going back and forth with a company and I was going with Nextel but I had to change to a different company.

SoundSlam: Is D4L still affiliated with you company Ice Age entertainment?

Mike Jones: They are affiliated with us but we just put the brand on them, they are very talented and I am a big fan of them, you know they have been doing their thing and their album went gold. I mean the company on a whole is doing really well. You know I have the club on Sundays, celebrity Sundays; I have CJ Mello and Lil Soldier coming out.

SoundSlam: How involved do you get with your artists?

Mike Jones: I am in there hands on as they show me love and I show them love and they are going to point the finger at me.

SoundSlam: What do you think is the one thing people get wrong about Mike Jones?

Mike Jones: People think that everything I do is a gimmick; you know the name, the who.

SoundSlam: You really think that people look at it as being a gimmick, as me personally I think it is more marketing and branding and there is nothing wrong with that.

Mike Jones: It is a brand but my whole message is, if people take the time to listen to people and what they say then they could be where I am today as, like I said, I listened to my grandmother. I know what time it is. My Grandmother has been the key to everything to do. That is why I am still humble, no matter what I have done or have, no matter how many records I may have sold, I still keep it cool with my people. If they see me I don't want them being afraid to hug me, you know people will tell you I am the coolest guy they know and all I want to do is show people that what I did, they can do too. If I can do for the world what my Grandmother did for me, it would be a means to a means in the industry.