Dom Pachino (Killarmy) - [ The Last Armageddon Interview]

dom Pachino

Two weeks ago Dom Pachino came through to have a full breakdown of “The Last Armageddon” project, which is drops today 15th November, 2011. As most of you will already know by now, Dom p announced this to be his final solo album. To symbolize it wrapping up his solo career, he even made it a double album. As the subtitle says: “The Alpha and Omega” , the album consists of his first album (as a re-release) plus his final one.

Since “Fear, Love and War” (2001) dropped, Dom P held the militant flag way up high and has put out numerous projects, be it solo or as a crew (Team Napalm). With his retirement announcement in mind, we sat down some more with PR Terrorist to ask why he decided this would be his final album, how he looks back at the past ten years and what he feels the future has in mind for him now he puts his solo career aside. So if you have always been down with Dom Pachino, go check and support “The Last Armageddon”, project and blast it through your speakers, while reading the following interview , enjoy !

I like to say thanks first and foremost for taking the time to answer these questions, highly appreciated, and will also point out that nothing will be altered, edited or changed when this is published online.

Wu-International: Peace Dom Pachino, how are you?
Dom Pachino: I’m good man.

Wu-International: We wanted to talk some more about your new and last album after you did the Resident viewpoint with us. It was a very interesting read. When we talked about the final track, you spoke about you coming from the Wu camp but trying to build your own wing: Napalm.
Dom Pachino: Yeah, like I said I acknowledge where I came from but I rep Napalm. That’s why my dudes run around saying: “Stamp it on your neck!” That’s what we been doing. That’s my take.

Wu-International: Well, you certainly been one of the most productive artists to come from the Killa Beez camp with the Napalm brand.
Dom Pachino: Yeah, I appreciate you acknowledging that. I appreciate all the fans, but some just seem to want to criticize .... but are they supporting the music for real? It’s a weird game man! It’s give and take. You love the music, so go buy the music, you’ll get more music. But if they’re gonna sit there and critique in a bad way all the time and not buy it, they're kinda stopping dudes’ money cause the dudes that aren’t really listening to it aren’t even going to pick it up now. They are not even gonna try to listen to it cause they got a bad critique on it, you know? It’s a negative vibe, so it’s a weird game. But like I said: I did what I had to do in this game. As a collective with Killarmy, we sold about 700,000 records and had our debut album crack the top ten billboard Hip Hop/RnB charts and that's something no other killabeez can say, except the Clan. As a solo artist, I made a name for myself and my company, Napalm Recordings. That’s good for me man. And that’s independent. It’s a grind and it is what is. But it’s not over! You’re gonna see me doing Indie films, this and that, I’m still strong. I’m young, I’m vibrant, I’m educated, I‘m still running with my company. We gonna do whatever we wanna do. I don’t want dudes to think it’s all over. I’m Great and only getting better with my business.

Wu-International: Good to hear. We’ve been doing the rundown of your new solo album this week to a great result, would you be interested in doing another one on Killarmy’s “Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars”?
Dom Pachino: So you want to take me back 14 years with my memory? Let me think ... we did that one at the Wu mansion. Wait, I’m getting lost now ... Well we did a couple of tracks while I was on the run, we did “Camouflage Ninjas” in Ohio at 4th’s Chamber, the old 4th studio that got ripped down and is something else now, but we did that album and that song there and we did the second album in the Wu mansion, that’s about it. No wait, what was it again? My memory is short man (laughs) you are going back a long time now. I’m trying to give you the best but all that I can tell you from that album is that while I was on the run, we recorded the single “Camouflage Ninjas”. Then I went and did my bid and when I came out of jail, we completed the album. We went back in the studio and we did more tracks. We were doing it in the original 36 Chambers in Staten Island, at RZA’s. He had a little condo at that time, with a basement and it had a studio there; I think they recorded Cuban Linx there too, if I’m correct. We did most of the album there. And that’s all I can tell you man. I can’t do a track by track, I’d like to but I can’t even remember a lot of that shit, it’s been a long time. All I can remember for sure is that Camouflage Ninjas was the only track I remember recording at 4th’s studio in Ohio.

Wu-International: OK, a shame but thanks for trying though. Something completely different: I noticed Bugsy announced a new mixtape on Facebook?
Dom Pachino: Yes, he’s working on a mixtape now, produced completely by Falling Down, just to get a buzz for his new album which he’s working on now. He’s probably 6 joints in for now. I’m actually meeting with him this week to listen to what he got so far for the new album.

Wu-International: And that’s going to be for sale or a download?
Dom Pachino: That’ll be a free giveaway, something for the fans.

Wu-International: Good news on 4th disciple getting involved again, it seems he’s coming back slowly?
Dom Pachino: Well, I’m trying to bring him back, you know? (laughs) He’s never really left but he’s doing what he does. He’s trying out different avenues too. Everybody’s on a different wavelength …we been doing this music for a long time! (laughs) Cats got to understand, we got different passions too. You grow, you develop, and you want to do different things. I am starting to direct. That’s going to be my thing, my new passion. You’ll catch me directing for local Staten Island cats. I’m doing an independent film. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag too early but I’m doing some things. But definitely look out for me on the directing tip. I’m gonna be shooting a lot of videos, directing a lot, and things of that nature.

Wu-International: Nice, have you already done some or are you yet to start with that?
Dom Pachino: Yeah, I just directed the “No Perseverance” video with Bronze’s beat. My cuzin Vin Zarate shot it. I also directed “You Used To Be” and the “Righteous Seed” video, which were both co-directed by Never Enough Ent. They looked out. Also, the "Fuck Critics" Video was my directorial debut, as far as music video, but the first thing I ever directed was the "Life of a Performer Documentary DVD". So that was me, but there’s more to come. I’m shooting … that’s my thing now, my new passion. As far as the music thing, I’ve done it over and over again. There’s nothing new under the sun, you know?

Wu-International: Yes, I can imagine after all these years…
Dom Pachino: Yeah, I still love it and stuff, but right now it’s Bugsy’s turn to rock. Chapelz is going to drop a single soon so we’re doing that now. I want to concentrate on getting my artists some exposure and getting them out there now.

Wu-International: So we should consider this album the keystone or closing chapter of your solo career ? Why not take a look back at what you accomplished the past ten years? A few years ago you told me you felt “Rice and Beans” was your best album. Do you still feel that way, which of all your projects throughout the years would you consider the 3 key albums for anyone to get to know the solo artist Dom P?
Dom Pachino: Hard one! I would say Unreleased, Rice & Beanz, and Tera Iz Him 2.

Wu-International: Great choice. Could you explain why these 3 are the most dearest to you?
Dom Pachino: I had the energy of a stud horse on Viagra on Unreleased, I grew as an artist and business man on R&B and I brought both those elements together on T2.

Wu-International: Which project would you, knowing what you know now, have approached completely different?
Dom Pachino: None. There is a reason for all things that exist.

Wu-International: I can imagine trying to get your own company up and running is a learning process, filled with good but also unfortunate decisions. Is there anything you regret looking back?
Dom Pachino: Nothing.

Wu-International: In the Resident Viewpoint article you told us you feel Falling Down makes your type of music. Which other five producers throughout the years would you say fitted your style best in your opinion?
Dom Pachino: Depends on my mood but all that you see me continue to work with got my type shit somewhere in their arsenal.(laughs) But Vintage 4TH for sure. Man I don't really wanna start naming cause then my niggas gonna feel left out (laughs). I leave it at that.

Wu-International: Ok, fair enough (laughs). Now let’s look at your future instead. You’d want to be more in the background from now on?
Dom Pachino: Yeah, I’m going to do the executive thing for my artists. I’ll direct their videos and produce some tracks on their albums. I just produced a track for Chap’s album.

Wu-International: So you want to get back to producing more again, also for others or rather your own artists? Would you, for instance, like to produce some of the new stuff for the Teraban album then?
Dom Pachino: I might produce a joint or two yeah. I haven’t gotten to it yet, but I got a lot of crazy producers that always hit me with hot beats so I get lazy (laughs). Why would I want to start being creative on that level when I’ve got to oversee the whole project? I have to get it to the distributor, I‘ve got to make sure the artwork is right, make sure every song is tight, make sure my dudes is coming with the right darts ... and then I got to make the beat on top of it and write a lyric for it too? (laughs) It’s a lot of shit, a lot of work, man.

Wu-International: You still have to find some time to sleep too at the end of the day (laughs).
Dom Pachino: Yeah! You got to sleep, live your life, do your regular day life too. I got family, a three year old son, he’s running around, choking me out, throws punches at me, you know? You got to have a lot of energy for all of this, right? lol

Wu-International: Absolutely. So, with the readjusting there’s not a real release date for the Teraban album at this moment?
Dom Pachino: No. Well, my focal point right now is “The Last Armageddon” album. The campaign is beginning right now, so I’m doing all of that at the moment. Once that has dropped and is taken care of ... The Teraban album was even done before this album, well I thought it was done: it was mixed, it had skits, everything’s done. Once the Armageddon album was completed, I listened to it. You know, you get tired of listening to your self so I listened to that again and ... I was like: “It’s hot but I want to do some more things with it.” Cause when we did it, it was just me, Bugsy and Chap on most of the tracks, we didn’t have too many features on it. Production is crazy but it doesn’t have too many features on it. We got Buggati Bomb on it, Desert Eaglez, we was blessed with that. But Trife wants to do something with me; he was in the studio with us just the other day. He just did some work with us so he wants to do a joint on there too for me. So I’ll get some different cats on there, feature it up a little bit cause it was just Teraban on there at first, spitting vomit on some hard ass tracks. We’re going in a whole different direction with that now. It was wild beats man, unorthodox tracks. It’s not going to be like anything you ever heard. It’s going to be “PR Terrorist presents Teraban” well, not even presents but “Introducing the Teraban” cause that’s just how we got to do this. Right now, the way things are in the market, as far as business goes, you got to work your way up. You just can’t introduce a new group without a major budget and expect it to sell. Due to my distribution ties, it’s better to promote it as “PR Terrorist introducing Teraban” ... It’s all politics man. I’m sure you understand. In a perfect world I’d like to just call it “The Teraban Album” and drop it but when it comes in stores, dudes will walk by it. They are not checking for the Teraban right now, understand what I’m saying?

Wu-International: Yeah, you want your name to be like the eye-catcher?
Dom Pachino: Yeah, it’s got to have something. You know right now I’m still the bread and butter of my company. I’m the one who sells the records. Bugsy did well with his album too but that was “PR Terrorist presents Bugsy” too, you know? It’s just the way it is. The game is not getting easier.

Wu-International: Speaking of Bugsy’s album: were you happy with how it was received?
Dom Pachino: Yeah, I think it was positive, I didn’t see him getting no bad feedback anywhere. I got dudes hitting me up, they want to do all kinds of stuff, and they really liked the album. I got promoters hitting me up for shows with him. It was well received. And I’m happy with it, I LOVED the album. I didn’t just put out the album, I didn’t stamp the N on it for no reason. I put it out because I was feeling it.

Wu-International: Because you believed in him and his album.
Dom Pachino: Yeah, I orchestrated it but he worked real hard on it. That wasn’t a “Let’s go in the studio and do it” type of thing: Bugsy had to get it right. He kept coming back: “Yo, what about this track and this track? “ And after a while he formulated an album. I organized it and then it was ready to come out, but he put a lot of work in on that album so he deserved that.

Wu-International: Yes, it was one of the great albums this year. We loved it here.
Dom Pachino: Yeah, I appreciate everybody supporting that. Bugsy went in! His new album is coming out crazy too. Its bananas right now. We got some explosives, some secret production! It’s gonna be a masterpiece, let’s put it that way. We got some producers that you might not expect to be on a Bugsy album, some big names in the game. We’re going in! Like I said I’m gonna focus on my artists, pump them out and make sure they get what they need for their projects and Bugsy’s is something that I’m concentrating on heavily. His first album was hot, well received so the sophomore album has to hit hard. And right now, it’s already bananas.

Wu-International: So that’s going to be for 2012 then?
Dom Pachino: Yeah, we’re looking for a summer release for that one. We’re not rushing it, we getting it together still. I’ve put a nice little budget aside for that one, it takes time.

Wu-International: Well, let’s hope the Maya’s weren’t right then about 2012 (laughs).
Dom Pachino: Yeah well ... I’m not scared of anything (laughs). We can stay, we can go, whatever is meant to be, let it be. That’s my take on things.

Wu-International: Yeah, I was just impressed those Maya’s knew the financial world would crash around this time; they only missed it by half a year, that was pretty impressive ! (laughs).
Dom Pachino: Yeah, they always been saying this world is going to end all the time man. Sometimes things are coincidences, sometimes they are not. They always say it’s gonna end and always give a date. And the date comes and goes. We wake up the next morning, yawn, take a shit and shower, eat and go on with our day. I am just glad, happy, everyday is beautiful, breathe air and live on. I just take it day by day and don’t worry about what’s coming, we all got a plan. We all got our plan for us.

Wu-International: True. Speaking of finances, you said you have an international distribution deal? What exactly does that entail: Napalm doesn’t have to go via any other labels to put out albums? And for how long is this distribution deal?
Dom Pachino: Deal was effective April 2010 and yes don’t need to go to any other label. Basically wherever there is a demand, I can supply that demand worldwide from Indie chains to major chains, as well as digital.

Wu-International: Good to hear. As far as we know, Chapelz and Bugsy are the only 2 artists that are currently under Napalm, is that correct?
Dom Pachino: As of now, yea. I also have Jewels Polaar on production and Lord Beatjitzu as part of my Warface Music production team.

Wu-International: Worthy additions. On previous interviews we were aware you were working closely with Crunch Lo and had an album planned to drop via Napalm, what happened to that project and is Crunch signed under Napalm?
Dom Pachino: At the time I really couldn't offer him much as an artist, just exposure with my mixtape releases and he was busy living his day to day life. So that kind of went out of focus but I’m still cool with him we just lost touch and haven't spoken for awhile.

Wu-International: Another project that was heavily in talks last year was the collabo with Shyheim as The Strength, is this still happening, and if so when can we expect?

Dom Pachino: Last time I spoke to Shy, he said it’s a go. Its just hard between both our schedules. Don’t have a tentative date as of yet.

Wu-International: Shyheim has been on most of your solos but we noticed he wasn’t featured on your new album. 9th Prince hinted that you fell out with Shyheim some time back. What would you say is your relationship with Shy now?
Dom Pachino: Me and Shy never had a fall out I told you guys last interview and when 9th spoke about that stuff and I spoke to Shy, he said if you guys want, contact him for an interview, bottom line! That was all nonsense, not fact. Me and Shy are good. I just did a joint with him and Ras Kass for his joint. He just didn’t happen to get on this joint like some of my other brothers. But I have the Teraban joint that y’all will catch Kinetic 9 on and Trife Diesel and a few others.

Wu-International: Now we mention 9th Prince, an inevitable question would be why you decided to take his features out of the re-release of “Tera Iz Him Part 1”?
Dom Pachino: Just was a decision I decided to make. Peace and success to 9th. It’s not personal, its business. Def didn't do it out of spite.

Wu-International: While we are talking about there-release, can you tell us something about the bonus track ? We forgot to discuss that one in the Resident Viewpoint article a few days ago.
Dom Pachino: Well , “I declare war” was supposed to go on Tera iz him 2.Everybody liked it but I felt I didn’t want any more slow tempo tracks on it, so it got scratched. So I put it on there-release for a bonus.

Wu-International: OK, thx for that info. I am sorry we are having to drag this in once again as I am sure you are tired of this question, but we recently interviewed Kinetic and he said the only time he will do a Killarmy album is when all the brothers are involved in it with no egos and their mind on the same page. Will you say the Killarmy project is a done deal for you? Or rather what would it take for you to do a Killarmy project considering how it ended last time?
Dom Pachino: It’s a closed deal for me. I tried and tried but I rather leave our 3 Classic album legacy alone than try to go in and create something that is not natural. I love the Army. I had my best hip hop moments with my brothers making this music and performing it but times change and so did we.

Wu-International: Anything else you would like to share with the fans that have not been covered already? Shout outs?
Dom Pachino: Like I said, again I want to thank you for all the support for my movement over the years, that don’t go unappreciated. I want you to know that. Peace to you and Dark 7 and everything you been doing out there. You are keeping it pure and I appreciate that. Peace to the Teraban and the whole Team Napalm. And to all real Staten mc's on the come up that kept it 100 with me.





	WU-INTERNATIONAL.COM		DESIGN BY DARK 7 INVADER