Check out this dope ass interview of Mick Boogie and Terry Urban courtesy of illroots.com.

illRoots.com: First I justgot in and read that recently you sent a rough copy of this to Jay-Z assistantand found out that Jay not only heard it but liked it. I have to ask is thereany word from Coldplay and their opinions on the project?

Mick: Not as of yet, butI’m confident with Chris Martin being the progressive music fan that he is… hewill check it out. We have received a lot of interest from the Coldplay fansites, however…which is really cool.

illRoots.com:Explain to methe significance of the entire project, and if you could go back and change onething what would it be?

Mick: Well… it’s just areally cool concept… Jay and Chris represent all that is right with modernmusic and art… and have collaborated a few times in recent years to great results.So why not extend that concept over an entire album? I thought when DangerMouse did the Grey Album, it was just remarkable. And while I didn’t like everysong on there, when it was on, it was absolutely some of the most amazing stuffI had heard. Same with the Jay-Z/Linkin Park project. When it was in sync, itwas amazing… like their “Encore” mashup. So we tried to take a collaborationthat was already organic and make it real… and also extend that quality levelthroughout the entire project.

Terry: A lot of artistsreached out to us about being part of it as well… contributing guest verses andstuff but we
didn’t feel it fit the schedule and concept of this project. Butif we could have made it happen, that would have been cool.

illRoots.com:The most arduouspart of putting this mixtape together was….

Mick: Just coordinatingeverything in a short amount of time. But a lot of producers that we work withwere more than happy to listen to our ideas and create things that we requestedfor the cd. Actually a lot of producers we have never worked with reached outto us in hopes of being on this project… which was really cool.

illRoots.com: How long didthis take to put together?

Mick: Couple weeks… give ortake. It was pretty much done a week ago, but we definitely wanted to take sometime to tease it… and get people excited about it. It’s been a lot of work.

Terry: I can’t wait to not talk/see/call/IM Mick for a week ortwo now. [Laughs]

illRoots.com: Out of ofevery song on this tape give me one song that sticks out as one of yourfavorites and why?

Mick: I have two. One is “The Reverse Fix” which is my firstever production. Usually, I have so many things I’m involved with that Ioutsource all the production on my projects and just Executive Produce/A&Rthe overall musical score. But I figured this would make a great introductioninto something I want to get into more… and that is production. Also… I lovethe Lost Part 2 blend I did. It’s one of the very few songs on the projectthat’s not a recreated/reproduced song. It’s the import version of Lost…acoustic and piano only… and Chris singing. But there was a breakdown in therewhich left room for me to add some Jay-Z verses. I mixed in “Momma Loves Me”which was my least favorite song on “The Blueprint” and the mood and emotion itcreates essentially takes both songs to a whole new level.

Terry: I love The Kickdrumsremake of “Homecoming” and “Heart Of The City.” They are respected producerswho are now moving into the artist realm… and their recreation of the ChrisMartin hook on “Homecoming” is amazing.

illRoots.com: We see thetransition of rappers going into more melodic singing and almost alternativesounding, which emcee do you see next to pick up the mic and start singing? ( Ipersonally think Project Pat would be hilarious but whatever.)

Mick: My man 88 Keys wasjust telling me… he has some singing stuff coming up on his project… so maybehe is next. I would really like to see an album with Baby The Birdman coveringsome Sinatra, though… that would be dope…[Laughs].

illRoots.com: As well youstated that Coldplay was following in the lineage of such great rock bands asU2, if you could pick one up and coming artist which one do you feel isfollowing in Jay-Z footsteps the most and why?

Mick: Kanye has been thatdude who has followed Jay’s trends of unique artistry, worldliness, fashion,and overall (i hate this word) swagger.

Terry: And as far as newerartists, we really like people like Mickey Factz, Naledge and Kid Cudi. Theyhave a fresh new sound and vision, and capture the new spirit of youthfulhiphop.

illRoots.com: You have awebsite for this… VivaLaHova.com.

Mick: Yeah.. well, it’sreally an offshoot from our blog…which is becoming more and more popular by theday… PressPlayFashionForward.com. But we wanted to give people a central placeto read the updates, the press, get the download, etc. So we created anoffshoot blog…and there it is. Good marketing is key. As IllRoots undoubtedlyknows!

illRoots.com: The cover is very clever. How did thatcome about?

Mick: Well, with the titlewe had, using that image was kinda essential. So our man Glen (shout to Hotcards.com) hooked it up and reallypersonalized it.

Terry: If you really lookat it, there are so many cool and clever changes that he made.

Mick: I’m still looking forWaldo…lol.

illRoots.com: WordAssociation.

Mixtapes

Mick: Dead. Conceptualdigital projects is where it’s at. It’s all about connecting in new ways withfans of the deejays and fans of the artists.

Jay-Z

Terry: A game changer. Arevolutionary. The guy is as much a foreign diplomat as he is an emcee.

Coldplay

Mick: What U2 was to the80s, and the Chili Peppers were to the 90s… Coldplay is to this generation.Amazing.

Hip-Hop

Terry: If you really lookaround you can find dope stuff.

Viva La Hova

Both: Classic!!!

illRoots.com: So over theyears you guys have made quite a name for itself, seamlessly adding more andmore onto your catalogues, with this project being helmed by the two of you andyour team of producers, what is next?

Mick: Lots! More A&R and consulting. More cool conceptualmixtapes. A few digital deals with progressive record labels are beingdiscussed. Mostly though, I’m focusing on my deejaying and traveling. I lovetraveling the country and world rocking parties from city to city, state tostate, country to country. It’s the thing I’m most enjoying right now about mycareer.

Terry: We are also working on expanding our 90s party… “I Got 5On It” to other cities and states… and making it a traveling event. We alreadydo it monthly in Cleveland and Brooklyn, and soon will be starting monthlies orone-offs in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, and Montreal. So that’s kinda fun.Also, I’m working with some of my favorite clothing brands on projects bridginghip-hop and skateboard culture.