Hip-Hop legend Neek the Exotic has seen his fair share of ups in downs throughout his 25 plus year career. I had the opportunity to catch up with the New York native during the A3C Festival in Atlanta at the top of this month and see what he been up to over the years as well as what he’s currently working on. This would be my third attempt to interview Neek, and we finally got to make it happen in what may be my favorite interview this year.
Before I ask you how you linked up with Large Professor and the crew, tell me how you got involved with Hip-Hop?
Neek: Ah man, (I was) a youngin’….I was 12? You know I was one them kids in school that was always into writing and reading and writing and poetry and things like that, so it was natural to me. It just came natural, it was definitely God sent without a doubt. Because it wasn’t just something I was doin’, it wasn’t nothing that was planned I guess it was just a part of my life …supposed to be a part of my life. So when I was about 12 man, that’s when I really started uh really writing in my books scribbling this and scribbling that and putting words together and stuff like that. So yea when I was little, when I was young…..
Cool. So how did you get linked up with Large Professor and the crew? 
Neek: Ah man, we hooked up in Queens. I was born and raised in Corona Queens, New York City. And from Corona Queens I moved to Flushing Queens which is acrossed the bridge if anyone knows that area. Uhm, Large Professor next building from me so me and Large met when we were real young ya know? And we been neighbors now, brothers now for 30 plus years. So we from the sandbox for real.
I heard through the grapevine that you were supposed to be in the original lineup of Main Source?
Neek: Yea man definitely. I was definitely suppose to, I’m always Main Source, you know what I’m saying? Regardless if I was on paper with them at the time and not back in the days on Wild Pitch Records, I was always a part of it. As you can see on the song,”Fakin’ the Funk” I still believe it’s the #1 song that Main Source made other than,”Lookin’ at the front door”. You know what I mean? So that’s how that go.
Right. So take me back to the making of “Breaking Atoms”. What do you remember most about that album? 
Neek: Mmmm. I just remember my man Large Professor putting in his heart…blood,sweat, and tears into that, man. Uh, we used to go to the studio be on the train with beat machines and all that stuff. Going to the studio in the cold, man it was a lot. He wasn’t playing, he was focused. He did all of the production… uhm, wrote all of the lyrics. You know what I mean? So he had a lot on the plate, you know what I mean so I experienced all of that. Late nights not sleeping,breaking nights at the studio, breaking nights at the crib you know what I’m saying? With me and him in there just writing all day and all night…smokin’, drankin’,chillin’. So I watched the whole process man, so it was unbelievable.
Young kid by the name of Nas comes in for,”Live at the BBQ”. Did you know back then that he was going to be the guy that he is now?
Neek: No, not at all. Not at all… Nas was always nice, but that was nothing that just came. That was him, God given the same way. He’s a very extraordinary talent, so when I heard him it was like “Wow” “Whoo”, this is crazy and the world see’s it.
You were on one of the last songs during that era of Main Source,”Fakin’ the Funk”. How did that song come about?
Neek: Aww man, uhm actually the track for,”Fakin’ the Funk” you know Large (Professor) had that track and he was giving it to D-Nice and D-Nice turned the beat down. We speak about this and we laugh about this. He said the beat was wack….
…one of his regrets?
Neek: Mmmhmm. So, you know once he turned it down you know Large kept it for us. We went to the city, we knocked it out. I basically freestyled it man, uhm I was on my St. Ides Malt Liquor back then..a young boy. And we was rocking, we went up in I believe it was Soundtrack Recording Studio and we went in there and knocked that joint out. I had no idea the impact it would have. You know just a young cat running around the streets you know what I mean? Just grinding and doin’ what young cats do and uhm, had no idea that it was gonna take off like that and be the #1 song in the country. So, that was really crazy right there. And now we still 25, 30 years later we still performing and rocking that song all over the world and all over the country. So that’s dope.
Ironically this month,October 1992, 25 years ago The Source Magazine announced the Main Source breakup. Can you elaborate on what lead to that and what you were going through at that time? 
Neek: Well at that time, a lot of things that were going on internally with the two D.J.’s, Kevin and Shawn…K-Cut and Sir-Scratch and uh actually their mother was the groups manager at that time. I don’t know her, but it you know uh it was messy…it wasn’t a great breakup. Trying to say it wasn’t a great breakup, uh it was a lot of stuff man. I don’t want to get into it too much because that’s more of Large’s situation you know what I’m saying that mines but uhm, I really don’t care for them…me personally. Large Professor is Main Source man, period. Neek the Exotic is Main Source man, people see it all around the world man everyday. They see what we do, they see how we rock together man from the sand box. So this is what we do, man. We bonded like (closes his hands together) ….we strong! Period.
So when Main Source breaks up, where’s Neek at mentally during this time?
Neek: Neek is chilling because Neek the Exotic, I’m chilling. I just want to make sure my man is good, as long as Large Professor is in a good space of course after the breakup it didn’t slow him down he kept doin’ albums and he was with Geffen Records and a couple other labels so he had a lot of different situations. So it was actually a breath of fresh air you know what I’m saying? Because at the end of the day Large did everything anyway so, I ain’t trying to be funny I’m real. They know I’m not fake, phony. I’m not making shit up either, it’s real. You know Large wrote all the lyrics, Large did all the production period. So, really Large is Main Source technically. So that’s how that go.
Was “Fakin’ the Funk” going to be used to lead into your debut album? Was that your set up at that time?
Neek: Yea, at that time yea it was a hell of a buzz. I was young we had the #1 song in the country. Uhm, a lot of cats were checking for me at that time. It was amazing man, it took off crazy. It took off crazy, it was like “wow,this is really happening”. I’m walking down the street, everywhere I’m going I’m hearing the song. I’m hearing people playing it, people riding by in their cars. I’m walking in the clubs and the song is on. It was like “wow” you know what I’m saying? So when they premiered it, I was actually in North Carolina when they premiered,”Fakin’ the Funk”. I wasn’t even in New York City at that time, I was visiting my cousins Sophia & Boo down in North Carolina at that time. And my man J. Rav was down there with me so that’s how that went ya know?
So how long between,”Fakin’ the Funk” to your debut album?
Neek: Aww man, it was a long time because at the time after we did,“Fakin’ the Funk” you know I was in a lot legal troubles at that time. So I ended up being incarcerated, so I ended up being away for almost 5 years you know what I mean? In prison…so when we did “Fakin the Funk”, I had a #1 song in the country and I was in prison for 4 1/2 years you know what I’m saying doing time. So I didn’t get a chance to do any shows , didn’t get a chance to do any promotion, didn’t get a chance to show my face, and the song was still the #1 song in the country. So that’s how that went, it was something I went through in life. Did I wish I went through that? Hell no, I don’t wish that on nobody. But I wasn’t supposed to be there, I’m not going to get into all that crap you know what I’m saying? But at the end of the day I made it through it. That was 1992, so them days are long gone. It’s getting ready to be 2018, so God is good God is great.
What year did your first debut album drop? 
Neek: Wow, I believe I did my joint,”Exotic is Raw” might have been 2003? 2003 that was “Exotic is Raw” joint I dropped and then after I did “Exotic is Raw” album, I did a couple of singles with my man Royal Flush. We did a couple of singles that Large produced called,”Make that Money” and “Money Thugs” that was our two joints. Large did the production on them, we did that so that was a real dope situation right there. And that’s how that went man. So it was official.
How do you think you’ve progressed from your first project to where you are today?
Neek: Aww man, I think I’ve progressed a lot. Large taught me a lot about concepts and stuff like that man and learn how to get better and switching up but still kinda staying in your lane at the same time. I think I definitely got ten times ( better) …. right now I’m in a great space musically, lyrically, everything. So uh, when I put out the album that me & Large Professor did the,”Still on the Hustle” album we did that in 2012. And right after that I put out,”The Hustle Don’t Stop” album right after that. And then I had the “Premium Grade” EP and I had the “Comin’ in Piles” EP. I did those with Ill Adrenaline Records and then I did the new project that I have out now “The Neek The Exotic Experience”. I did that with my man Jamieson Grillo with Redline Distribution and I had Bumpy Knuckles on that, Craig G., Mr. Cheeks, so that was a real hot joint. But right now we working on new stuff and I’m just trying to get better everyday, just trying to get better all the time. 
Large (Professor) just walked in the area, and my next question was you and him been rolling thick for many years….
Neek: Yes!
….what keeps you guys working together?
Neek: Aww man, we real brothers man. You know what I’m saying? We real brothers, we go through our ups and downs. We’re gonna go through all of that. But one thing we ain’t gonna do is separate. You know what I’m saying? We ain’t gonna do that, you know what I’m saying? We gonna always keep it tight, you know what I mean? And then you know, we got peoples you know? We got my man G. Money, we got my man Mr. Cheeks, these are the Lost Boyz. We like family, it ain’t just a music thang. We from the sandbox too so we all know eachother for the same amount of years and same amount of time so we all keep eachother grounded, you know what I’m saying ? So even when people don’t see us all together all of the time…we’re together. We’re a unit, you know what I’m saying? It’s just that everybody got their own things and their own situations too. Everybody doin’ what they do, everybody doin’ good but we all stick together and never separate. So we go through our ups and downs. But now it’s even more me & Large, we can agree to disagree and still say, you know what? Cool, alright let’s move on. Let’s do what we got to do. So yea man, we always had that bond and that’s what keeps us going. And the number one thing that keeps us going is my moms. I lost my moms May 25th 2016…
I’m sorry to hear that.
Neek:….and uhm, yea that’s the number one thing. My angel, she keeps me going. Where’s my angel at? (Searches for the necklace that is in remembrance of his mother) My angel upstairs? (In hotel room) Yea, I didn’t put it on because I didn’t get all fly right now, I’m just chillin’ right now you know what I’m saying? But yea my angel and my son man, my 15 year old son Jalen. He keeps me goin’. It’s real. It’s family. Me and Large like I said are next door neighbors, we right next door to each other.
(At this point I ask Large Professor to join us on camera). 
My man Large Professor. I appreciate everything you guys have done for Hip-Hop.
Large Professor: Definitely
Glad you could join us real quick. I was just asking (Neek) basically what keeps you guys working together?
Large Professor: Brotherhood. We brothers from the start. Like this ain’t even no Hip-Hop, this is before Hip-Hop. This is like brotherhood from the start so that’s always gonna be strong.
Neek: That’s what I told him..
Large Professor: And it just so happens we do music too. You know we got the same love for music so we just put it out there to the world and they see the brotherhood. Ups, downs, all of that. You know what I’m saying? We stand strong.
You guys working on anything in the future together?
Large Professor: Absolutely. Always. That’s always. For the people that always checks for us, they know we always keep something out there.
So what’s coming up in the future? What can we expect?
Neek: We working now. We working on music right now.
Large Professor: Bangers. More bangers. More Hip-Hop Bangers. For the real Hip-Hop people out there.
While I still got you here. What do you think of the current state of Hip-Hop?
Large Professor: It’s cool. There’s joints that’s cool. And then there’s like it always was, ya know? They got some bangers out there. They got some joints that just ain’t right. And that ain’t what we listen to. We listen to what’s good. The new dudes, they got ill joints too.
Neek: Yea, I think the state of Hip-Hop is good as long as cats like us is still in it. It’s always gonna be good.
Large Professor: Word. And other generations, all that. You put it all together…
Neek: I had a cat come up to me last night. He was 21 years old in the spot. He was like ,”Yo man, I respect what y’all doin’man. Man, ya’ll still doin’ it. Man, what advice can you give me? I’m 21 years old.” I told him to keep pushin’ man if this is what you really want to do and you really want to make it happen. Just give it 1000% and go ahead and reach your goal.
Large Professor: I thought you told him (Large recites a verse from a song about getting money)
Neek: (laughs) I told him that too. I told him a couple of other thangs too. I can’t tell you right now. ( We all break into laughter at this point). 
Before I let you go, what was your biggest memory of making,”Breaking Atoms”?
Large Professor: Yo, it was just the camaraderie with the brothers and their pitching in. It was some real something from nothing type shit. Like we didn’t have nothing it wasn’t like no big budget, it wasn’t nothing. Like even us coming out here to A3C right now. It’s like yo, we coming out here putting it out for the people, for the love man. This is a festival man and we just adding on to the love for Hip-Hop, representing Hip-Hop and that’s what that was. Main Source “Breaking Atoms” was for the love and people felt the intensity in the music. Like these dudes got a real intense love for this Hip-Hop thing and they master crafters at it and that’s why we still standing.
Like I said, I thank you for everything you’ve done for Hip-Hop. So where can we find you guys at on social media?
Neek: Aww man, you know. @neektheexotic on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. Got my YouTube page Neek the Exotic, you know what I’m saying? So I’m reachable man. I’m definitely reachable.
Large Professor: @plargepro on Instagram
Any words for your old fans, new fans you might have made today.
Neek. I just want to say mad love for everybody man. We here, we rockin’. Right now we in Atlanta doin’ what we do. Having a great time man. We rockin’, we stay working. We appreciate all ya’ll support, you know what I’m saying? Keep supporting us, keep rocking with us. Me & Large gonna continue to put out them bangers straight like that, you know what I’m saying? One…..
SIN-SEER'S WORLD... 