Twista ‘Spits That Street S—,’ Compares Lil Wayne to Tupac

With his high speed, torrential delivery, Twista has steadily risen from Chicago local legend to platinum-selling artist. Known for his tongue-twisting, virtuoso delivery, the Guinness World Record-holder sat down with The Boombox to discuss his newest album, 'Category F5.'

The Boombox: You've got a lot of new artists on this album, like Gucci Mane, OJ Da Juiceman and Lil Boosie. Would you say 'CF5' is still similar to your previous records in terms of your delivery?

Twista: Oh, hell yeah. I went through that stage of tryna tell people 'oh I got this new sound, this new stuff.' Hell naw, I'm on there rockin' fast, kickin street s---!

The Boombox: How do you feel about being involved in rap now as opposed to when you first came out?

Twista: Back then, when I rapped, I was a star and everybody around me were fans, and they were happy to see me doin' what I'm doin'. Now,when I walk outside, the same people that used to be fans, they want to be stars too. I feel that it's a little too over saturated. On another level, the internet has changed the game up a whole lot. You're not able to sell as many records, and gotta do things different now. The only thing that's still pure to me is going in the studio and making a record, and the feeling of when you come out on stage and the fans give you genuine love.

The Boombox: What do you think about current trends in rap and Auto-tune...

Twista: I think Auto-tune is cool, cause to me Auto-tune expresses the future. It sounds dope, cause it's like 'Yeah, we in the year 2000 and something and they got all these new tricks!' I'm actually seein' people try to advance past the Auto-tune into some other things too. I think engineering tricks and playing with your vocals, I think that's dope.

The Boombox: But so much of your style has to do with you being naturally talented...whereas with Auto-tune you don't need to be talented -- it's almost better if you're not.

Twista: I definitely had some fun with it though. Once or twice on the record like I'll twist up a line and put that on there, just to let the fans hear, 'Oh damn, this is the way it sounds if Twista do that to his voice!' I don't care for it enough to change my whole style or nothing like that, though.

The Boombox: Right. So what did you think of the Kanye West record?

Twista: I love the s--- outta the Kanye record. This is my honest opinion; the man was so dope that he jumped onto something that was a fad and still pulled off a classic album. I'll even go further than that- Kanye used the Auto-tune for what it's supposed to be used for. He wanted to do a record like he was a singer, but he know he can't sing. So what is the technology you use? You Auto-tune. People may not realize it, but all of their favorite singers got that s--- on their voice too, they just don't hear it to the level that you hear it on Kanye's voice.

The Boombox: Right. He's not even pretending like he was hitting those notes.

Twista: Yeah, You can't really hate on Lil Wayne for it 'cause no one had done it before in rap. He was the first one that done it, so, you have to respect that. I love Lil Wayne 'cause one, he did what Tupac did -- brought a lotta records out and exceeded the normal rapper's output. And two, he's one of the last rappers that still makes me want to rap. Like other rappers I listen to and don't feel nothing. But I can listen to Wayne and get inspired to pick up the pad and write something myself.

The Boombox: Is there anyone else you feel that way about?

Twista: Jadakiss. I also feel that way about Eminem. And I like the new Drake dude. That cat is off the chain to me. He's one of the futures of hip hop right there.

The Boombox: Has anyone ever tried to make you slow things down, or change your style to fit the current trends?

Twista: Yeah, a little bit. I would think that people would get tired of it, or want me to start doing slower stuff, but it's the total opposite. Luckily, I love doing what I do, because people don't want to hear Twista do anything but rap the way he raps. And I found out the hard way; I'd get a track and be like 'Yeah, let me slow it down a little bit.' And people are like 'We don't wanna hear that s---! We wanna hear you do that thing you do!' So that's all they wanna hear from me. And I'm satisfied with it, man, I keep doin' it for em cause I love it.

The Boombox: Was that an actual response someone gave you?

Twista: Oh yeah! I don't beat around the bush man, I go and face the mirror. They don't wanna hear Twista do nothing but rap fast and spit that street s---. So I give it to em. It'd be like Mike Tyson coming out and going ten rounds every fight. You don't wanna see that s---! You wanna see somebody get knocked out!