We caught up with the trio known as T-Weaponz some time ago, but since the guys have some new things going on, we thought it was a good time to revisit the conversation.

Check out an unedited conversation The Source’s MC had with the guys, after the jump.

How did yall first meet?

Izreal: Well, Ark and Izreal are brothers and we met Psalmz in high school-like. p how did you and ark meet?

Psalmz: A little over 10yrs ago in a cypha in Brooklyn, we were like the only Puerto Rican kids rhyming around the way so we kind of like stuck together ever since, fate.

What made yall form the group?

Izreal: Well like P said, there weren’t many Latinos in East New York rhyming…so we decided to do the group thing.

Psalmz: In the real world, our group was more then just rappers, it was three of us basically doing 6 jobs at once. Iz was more the manager role, I was also doing production and Ark was in between the gel so we needed each other.

Izreal:We became self-sufficient but more from necessity. Every dude we met in the game wanted to sign us to some bogus production deal and being that we did our homework and that I worked at Sony Music for five years, we got to see what the game was about.

Psalmz: Six arms were better then two.

What were you doing at Sony?

Izreal: I worked in the royalty dept. and got to read contracts on artist, producers, soundtracks etc also paid global royalties and studio sessions.

You guys also have a social message theme running through your music. Where does that come from?

Psalmz: Our backgrounds, our surroundings and this present moment, I think growing up poor is a experience.

Izreal: I definitely agree with social message…but its more like the perspective from the hood that you may sell drugs or do shit you don’t want to but you don’t like it, many rappers glorify it. I think we do the opposite, it’s not cool to live in the hood, it’s not cool to sell drugs, we’ve done it and it wasn’t what all these so called gangsta rappers make it out to be.

Psalmz: But if you have to sell drugs, don’t do it because you want the new Jordan’s, but because you wanna buy mama a better coffin, or out of desperate measures. We bring the perspective America doesn’t want to see.

Izreal: Some brothers from the hood who want you to do better and leave the realities of poverty behind not continue to sink you, but its still relative. And we even throw in a few curses. (Laughs)

Psalmz: We touched almost every subject it keep us well rounded.

Is that the formula or just how it is?

Izreal: It became a formula we know that if you make it catchy and relative enough.

Psalmz: Well it’s our formula and also the way we feel at the time.

Izreal: The masses won’t even know you’re teaching em.

Psalmz: If you here our new single “The New Ish”… its a club beat, a catchy hook but the lyrics speaks of our struggle and success its like parent who give there kids medicine you have to hide with the sweet tasting stuff. (Laughs)

So how did you guys manage to get on the charts?

Izreal: One of our partners who’s identity must be concealed cause of legalities… (Laughs) works for major radio and he opened some doors we knew that if we got to meet thjs and retailers we’d be able to stick and sure enough…
Psalmz: Those doors are top heavy to push on your own.

Izreal: 15,000 + radio spins, 70,000 download sales and a single charting #6 on billboard later… we’re sticking. (Laughs)

What’s been the biggest reward from it?

Psalmz: Being able to see both spectrums and being able to be apart of both

Izreal: for me it’s been the traveling…and the real impact our music has on people…
Psalmz: We’ve got to expand our mind when music allowed us to expand vision.

Izreal: To see fans sing your lyrics is fucking crazy.

Psalmz: That’s the ultimate feedback.

Izreal: And to know that either by choice or necessity we did our way and are winning.

Psalmz: There’s a method to our madness.

Which is?

Psalmz: From the outside in it looks like the wheels are going slow or we stupid not to sign to a major but we only know why.

Izreal: In my view the method is that grind, great music and gift of gab will get you to the top of the mountain to add on to P…its such a diff game now labels aren’t what they used to be and signing a deal never guaranteed anything in most cases, it limited artists for every success there are thousands of artist on a major you WILL NEVER HEAR ABOUT.

Psalmz: Or you will for that moment one hit wonders.

Izreal: If they even get to that. (Laughs)

Are you looking to stay indie?

Psalmz: The game is now comparable to the stock market labels like traders and brokers tend to deal on what’s rising in the market or what’s buzzing in the streets… but not sign as artists.

Izreal: We’d do distribution w/ some perks (promo/marketing budget etc) with a major.

Psalmz: Bandwagon jumpers for that time being but once your stock plummits so does your career.

What’s the solution for labels and artist?

Psalmz: At the end of the day if its fare we will listen even fairly fair…lol
Izreal: Labels have to come back to earth and realize the game isn’t the same the internet forever changed not just music but life artist have access to markets and fans like never before for years the only way an artist could become a superstar was thru a label that’s no longer the case but as is the case with math there will be a median.

Tell me the wildest shit that’s happened to y’all.

Izreal: (Laughs) X Rated or PG?

(Laughs) Both business or personal, just y’all.

Izreal: I’ll give a few we were in Oxnard, California doing their Cinco De Mayo show and we did an ‘on location’ interview at a ‘Chevy’s’ type Mexican place and the radio was offering tickets to any one who came out.

Psalmz: From young girls fainting to the autographs on the craziest places.

Izreal: This girl, no older than 19…showed up with our mixtape that she had gotten a year and a half earlier it felt incredible to know someone was following us that long from the other side of the country. Another time we performed w/ Slick Rick in San Diego at the B-day party for Kendra from girls next door…and the San Diego charges and some LA Dodgers were there and they all knew our shit loved it.

Psalmz: I had this chic think I was Daddy Yankee till I told her the truth the next morning… (Laughs) It’s been a blast.

Ark: word not to mention a slew of drunken models

Was this before or after the charts?

Ark: It was actually before, during and after. (Laughs)

Izreal: Well the Billboard charts came after we already had a #1 single out west, so the single ‘Mira, Mira’ actually set it off.

Izreal: We did Summer Jams off that in El Paso, San Diego, Dallas, Phoenix, Oxnard, Riverside Arizona.

Psalmz: What we call the whole L

Izreal: It’s funny because we def got fans in NYC but if NY’ers knew how big we are in some other markets its crazy.

Ark: I think a lot of the NY heads do know.

Psalmz: Everyone know us in NYC and they feel there own way about us…but at least they feel something…lol

Ark: But we all know the New York syndrome.

What’s that?

Psalmz: Following trends and not creating them in some cases you think we created this crazy sneaker game that everyone are going crazy over, 12oo kicks, rare shit…but that’s been going in Japan.

Izreal: NY has gone from trendsetter to follower in many ways. Even our radio plays shit now after its a hit and is on top 20 charts its despicable look at a dude like Mims he’s from the heights and his single has to go top 10 before NY even shows it some love that’s unreal there’s not much support here its the politic shit money in the pocket but that’s for a whole other article. (Laughs)

How do you get past it?

Psalmz: You see everyone on the 80’s look but that shits been done overseas not cause that’s the style but because 1. They are behind a couple of years in Hip-Hop and because once they fall in love with something 9 times out of ten they gonna b loyal to it.

Izreal: You do the 50 Cent… you come back to NYC with a nation of fans and a pocket full of money to buy over niggas heads. (Laughs) Am I wrong? We will get New York, we’re sure of it. And interviews like this with brothers like you will help that.

Psalmz: I concur.