One on one with Terry da rapman

-Let's get to meet Terry, not the rapman? My real names are Terry Terhember Madaki. I hail from Nassarawa state to be exact,born in Kano but lived like twenty years of my life in Kaduna even tho I now reside in Plateau state with my family. I'm the first born of three siblings,my mother passed on 3 years ago.I schooled in Airforce Primary school Kaduna,Federal Govt school Minna and Kaduna,did my OND in Mass Communication in Kaduna Polytechnic. Boyz don hammer -Your career as 'tha rapman' aka Joe Spazm I ve always loved music growing up as a kid listening to LPs my dad had in d house,Fela Anikulapo kuti,Bob Marley,Bob Marley n Ofege etc. It was in my teens in secondary school I discovered Hiphop music. The beats,the way they expressed themselves n d dress sense had me goin in the early 80s,L.L Cool J I would say was my idol.I started transcribing their lyrics for friends in school one day I tried writing for myself and that was how I discovered my skills,my first recording ever was in 1994 for talent show and I was told to take music seriously cuz they thot I had a gift n the rest was history. From recording demos to getting a deal with PaybackTyme records in 2001 to being a member of SWATROOT n then on. -Hip Hop in a commercial way, does it justify the phrase "staying true to the game"? First of all, I think phrases like 'keeping it real' and 'staying true to the game' are kinda played out! The Hiphop I grew up listening to back then,LL Cool J would do a battle track n next song he's loving the ladies,Slick Rick,Redman,Ice Cube,Rakim all told stories,did party songs,conscious n political songs and were still real. I think there was a problem somewhere where rappers started getting things mixed up. Be urself,dats being true to the game. Ojoro ft Terry G -You recently won the HHWA for best rap single, how was the experience like? I had a feeling I was gonna win,but I was still beside my self with joy all the same. I mean goin up against heavy weights like Naeto C,MI,Knighthouse n Cartiair.I'm honored. -Tell us mor about your clothing line BANS? BANS (Boyz are not smiling)is a slogan I coined on my last album 'Tha Rapman beginz',it simply means being dead serious or sincere about ur business. Its a phrase a lot of youth of today identify with,so when I wore the T shirt in a video everybody wanted one. The demand became so much that I hollered at my designer Marco Martinez about it. I can now as we speak the T shirts are being made in wholesale and we would launch it properly in the market with details of where n how much to buy it. -Whats your relationship like with fellow hip hop acts and other artistes in general? I'm the coolest guy to be with,ask anybody in showbiz who knows me,I don't have problem with no one. Contrary to what people think,despite the Ruggedman/Mode 9 feud we cool,we sat next to each other at the awards cracked jokes during the last HHW awards. -Your fan base is growing rapidly, how do u handle 'em (females especially)? In this entertainment biz there's bound to be female drama every now and then.I think it depends on the individual,I'm a very level headed person and growing up with a lot of older friends I'm more experienced than my age. I can be cool with my female fans and I know how to caution them when they overstep their boundries without making them feel unhappy. -When is the BANS album dropping and what shld we look out for? The BANS album will drop hopefully by the end of August,its mixed and mastered. Its nothing short of a classic Rap album,its about life,joy,pain,envy,love and everything else. It have hot collabos with Mocheddah,MI,Terry G,Kefee,Pherowshuz,Cartiair n etc. Productions by X.O,Terry G,Jay Sleek ,Etwins,Pherowshuz,Seaman,Tommy illfingaz and El emcee. -How is the industry and how is the paper coming in, would you say it has greatly improved? Things been looking up,esp since after the awards been doing more shows and the value gone up(laughs!)We will be touring abroad shortly after the album drops so by the end of the year its definately gonna be Rap,man!