Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn-based rap group A-Alikes, are ready to create a revolution for the people of our generation. Originally from Tallahassee, Florida, the duo knew that in order to become successful, they would have to leave the slow moving life of the south behind and broaden their horizons. So, they took initiative of their destiny and moved to shark state New York.

In New York, they saw the street hustle in its purest form. But the game of life was nothing but a cold hustle. Ultimately, the group had to come to the realization that the objective of everyone around them, was not necessarily about unity, but about trying to make a dollar. In order to win this hustle, the duo had to think outside the box. With their newfound knowledge and a strategic game plan, they teamed up with Baby J, a producer from the UK, and made their first single "Walk With a Bop". That track was released in the UK, and received critical acclaim. Soon after, the A-Alikes received a placement in The Source's Unsigned Hype section, and mass recognition in the US. With Dead Prez there to show support, the group was able to put out two albums titled Live Or Die, and Guerilla Nation Vol. 1, under their record label- Guerilla Nation.

A-Alikes was signed to Nervous Records in '05. Their keen business sense meant negotiating a contract that gave them more than their fair share of the profits from their record sales.

A-Alikes is a group that is aware of the marketing music machine. It's not new that the rap game is saturated. It's also not new that Hip-Hop culture, and many rap artists,' are now floating in a bursting bubble respectively called Pop culture. The imagery and content of rap music is administered by the gangsters that run major record labels It takes a strong will, a vast amount of knowledge, and an ability to manipulate the system to be successful in rap music in this given day and time.

HHC: Your album just dropped on May 23rd, and I believe you also had a release party. How was the party? Who came to show support?

K: It was great. It was a family affair. Dead Prez came by, Lord Jamal from Brand Nubians, Dana Dane, the whole RBG family. Earlier we went to a viewing of Dead Prez's new movie premiering on BlackStars called Dead Prez: Bigger than Hip-Hop.

HHC: For your album, I Eat, You Eat, what is the number of units that you would like to sell, verses numbers that you feel are realistic that you would be comfortable hitting?

K: First and foremost, we got a record deal with Nervous Records. We have a label called Guerilla Nation and put out two albums overseas called Live Or Die and Guerilla Nation Vol. 1. We don't really have to go platinum or gold. We will still get enough money and freedom to continue doing what we're doing. We still have to sell a decent amount and we still need everyone's support to keep things going.

Ness: I don't want to put a number on it, because if we go gold I don't want to be like 'I thought we were going to do 100,000.' What K said is very relevant; we don't have a huge budget compared to artists under major labels. Therefore for us to be financially successful we don't have to sell 50,000 or 100,000. The music we do and the people that are on the album make it gold and platinum. If we go gold, then we push for the platinum, if we go platinum then after then we push for two times platinum. To put a number on it, that wouldn't be fair.

HHC: Many artists created a revolution for something when they first came out. Like Mobb Deep coming out with the hardcore street sound and Public Enemy with their political message. So here you guys come right now, when these revolutions have already been done. Do you feel this pressure to be original and create a whole new revolution as A-Alikes?

Ness: That is not really the question. The question is being the bridge between the 'Street hip-hop' and 'Conscious hip-hop.' That would be the pressure; trying to balance everything because there aren't a lot of artists that can communicate to everyone. You're either conscious or street. People find it easy to box you as an artist, but I can tell you that we aren't thinking about Mobb Deep when we write [our lyrics].

K: I don't think the artists before us were trying to do that. This is a trophy that has been rewarded to them coming out as themselves. They just put their music out and it was revolutionary. Revolution is to change something with a more efficient approach and keep it moving. You can change something but if it ain't efficient, then you fuck the whole game. [The artists' before us] were talking about representing your projects, everybody mob together and stick together. Hopefully people will see us as that and give us that trophy, but it's no pressure at all. But as Ness was saying, our number one goal is to bridge cats from the clubs with the backpackers. We're trying to sharpen our intelligence with political education when talking amongst each other [with the revolutionaries], so we can satisfy that part. We have been through the whole street thing, and had our heads in every form of dirt out there. That's who we are, and hopefully people will accept it same way as they accepted the dudes before us.

HHC: So guys, what's your politic?

Ness: Our politic is people over the dollar. Everyone is supposed to be something their living up to. Me and K, we're two humans, we came together, and we're working together. We've known each other for a while, and being a duo, there are a lot of things that come into it. For us to work together all these years and to trust each other; there's a lot of politic in that. When we ask 'What is your politic,' we mean, 'What is your policy in life.' Our policy is 'I got my nigga back, he got my back.' If we don't do that, then we're going against our policy.

HHC: You said you moved up living in BK (Brooklyn) from how things were in Tallahassee. But do you think if you had stayed in Tallahassee, you would have been able to accomplish what you have right now? Especially considering that everything from the south right now is blowing up?

Ness: Good questions man… Me and K talk about that, not everyday but sometimes it comes up. It is not just us though; Dead Prez, A-Alikes, Hedrush, we all moved up from Tallahassee. Just imagine if Dead Prez and A-Alikes was in Tallahassee [right now]. Would this thing have popped and how would it pop? It's up there, but I couldn't really give an answer.

K: We are not psychic. They couldn't really accept what we were doing so we came to New York and we learned a lot. We had a chance to really branch off in our mentalities, and really put it to the people. They call the black people from down south the Sleeping Giants. They say when the black man from the south raises up, it's going to be the end of the system. If you're telling me it's possible to do some revolutionary shit from down south, not any Crunk or club shit, then it's about to be the end of the devils reign.

Ness: New York has just about 20,000,000 people. Every big corporation is up here and there are so many different cultures as far as ethnic groups go. This was the perfect testing ground. What would take one week in New York to get feedback, would probably take six months in Tallahassee. If you say 'Fuck the Police' In Tallahassee, people are all quiet about it, where as in NY you can say it right to their face.

HHC: There will be songs from your album like "They Wanna Murder Me," and "We Hungry" that will get a lot of radio play. I am sure that every song is personal to you, but out of your 17-track album, what song(s) you want people to really hear and understand?

Ness: There's a song called "Protocol" that's important to us, because we want people to know that when the police stop you, they don't own you. Yeah we're at war, and the enemy got the drop on us, but just understand when they run up on you, they've got a constitution and rules they have to follow. The system is made for everybody.

K: 'Every song is a kite.' When we sit there and we write songs, we'll start with a title, like "Protocol"; something that you need to know when a certain situation comes so you can survive it. Then you write a good chorus, try to produce something catchy so cats like hearing what you're saying, and then you write the rap. I'm not trying to waste your time. I'm trying to tell you something on every song. No song is a break.

HHC: Have you been getting more love in certain cities in Europe and in Canada than in the US?

Ness: For Live Or Die, we did that album with our own money. We had a producer named Baby J from the UK who helped us with that album. That album was released in the UK, so it got love out there before it did in the States. We also had a single with Baby J a few years before that, "Walk With a Bop", which also distributed in the UK. We were slinging CD's in our hood and we were getting love from them too. Outside of the country does appreciate artistry a little more because the machine is not pumping propaganda out there as much they do in US. Kids out here (U.S.) don't even acknowledge something unless it's on MTV or BET. When we come to Toronto, we get crazy love; in the UK we get crazy love; in the States, we're starting to get crazy love. Our homies and people that know us always had love for us, but now more and more people from the States are starting to get hip to it.

HHC: A lot of young rappers on the come up feel that the only way to be able to do get anywhere with their music, is to get signed to a major label. Do you agree with that theory? What alternatives would you give to these young kids to open their eyes?

Ness: If you just keep focusing on the deal, it's not going to happen for you. You have to focus on doing the music and improving your craft. You have to focus on making relationships with people and do what you have to do. When we created Guerilla Nation, we signed ourselves. If we were waiting for Nervous Records, we wouldn't be prepared for this situation. Put your music out there, but make sure you have support from the people around you. You have to hear people that can communicate with you and give you feedback.

HHC: Will RBG be touring anytime soon?

Ness: Yeah, we will be touring. We're working on something right now. We were on the road for the Ghostface Killah tour with M-1. Ghostface did a 42-city tour, and we caught him when he was on the east coast. When we were touring, we said we had to take RBG on the road. We want to connect with people that are ready to organize. We're going to rock a show and head over to the radio stations, hang out in the hoods, and really see what's up. When we were in Toronto we were looking for Jane and Finch. [Laughs]

Editor's note: For more information on A-Alikes you can visit their official website: http://www.aalikes.net or their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/aalikes.