N.O.R.E. explains '5E' and protecting the culture on 'The Breakfast Club'
To hear him tell it, ‘5E’ was inspired by Pusha T’s ‘Daytona.’
To commemorate his 20 year anniversary, N.O.R.E. treated 2018 with a brand new album, 5E, last week. To hear him tell it, other than his two decade run, the album was inspired by Pusha T’s Daytona. Speaking on that, along with his new deal with Mass Appeal, the LeFrak legend gave all the details to DJ Envy, Angela Yee, and Charlamagne Tha God on The Breakfast Club.
On being 20 years strong:
“20 years in the game, most of us is washed or doing UPS commercials. For me to come back to music and to see that love — Mass Appeal Records, I want to big them up. I forgot what it felt like to be on a record label, because I’m used to doing everything on my own. But Mass Appeal, they really stepped it up.”
On making peace with Nas and signing with Mass Appeal:
“We don’t act like that issue didn’t, we address it, [which] is what brothers do. We can’t act like that didn’t happen. It happened, but we happy now. I love to see where he’s at. It was emotions. But, look young kids, look what you could go through and then realize that that’s your brother. We all go through things, and that’s just how you have to handle it. As a man, if you never had an argument with a person, you never had an agreement with a person for 20 years, that’s not your friend. At the end of the day, me and Capone fight like cats and dogs, because I know that’s my brother.”
On how Pusha-T inspired 5E:
“Mass Appeal had reached out to me, we made a three song deal, and “Uno Mas” was one of the three songs. [The song] did great for that they was expecting. So they said, “Fuck the three song deal, let’s do a whole album.” I was opposed to it at first, ’cause I was like I don’t got time. [But] then Pusha-T dropped that album. I went straight to the studio. I was so inspired, because how good Pusha-T sounded and I went and I just did a whole album. I went straight in after I heard that album.”
On supporting the culture:
“We have to start supporting our culture. We all gotta support the culture. Go get a Steve Harvey suit [Laughs]. Yo, for real. We gotta support our culture.”