How did you get involved with rapping and hip-hop?

My older cousin actually taught me to rhyme back in like 87. Back then it was eric b and rakim, heavy d, fresh prince and dj jazzy jeff, public enemy out. we were fuckin' around matching shit that rhymed and he then said lets write this down, me being impressionable i was like yeah ok. he decided that it was a hobby but I continued to grow and develop my style , i actually knew at that point that I was in love with hip hop.

Who were your influences both musically and socially?

My influences musically are diverse. I was influenced by last poets, gil scott heron, marvin gaye, carlos santana (who i share a birthday with july 20th), bob marley, micheal prophet, the abasynianinians, brand nubian, poor righteous teachers, just ice, nwa, ice t, mutabaruka, mobb deep, smiff and wessun, mop, wutang clan, killarmy, sunz o man, holocaust, ugk, cmw, and eightball and mjg. socially fred hampton, che guevara, patrice lumumba, mao tsedong, victor trotsky, the father allah, noble drew ali, elijah muhammad, malcolm x, george jackson, jeff fort(black p. stone nation), geronimo jijagga pratt, h. rap brown, amri baraka, the sandanistas, zapatistas, lenard peltier, nation of gods and earths, and vicelord nation

How would you describe your music?

I would describe my music as conscience elevation for the stagnant mind.

How would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as a righteous warrior here to make knowledge born that 1. the blackman is god. 2. positive education always corrects errors. 3. that through the best part of communism (being power to the people and social equality) can we gain and achieve total freedom away from the capitalist/totalitarian infrastructure. I would describe my self as a business orientated revolutionary who is willing to stand for what I know to be right and exact. someone willing to sacrifice for the greater good.

Can you describe what your name means?

Lord means one with knowledge and understanding; such as a master. subliminal means that my work affects your mind in ways that tend to stick and make you react. i chose lord subliminal as a monikier back like 97 or 98. shell shahk shahkim becase i was born with a condition which is called PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which was referred to as being shell shocked

Who is in your group? Can you talk a little more about your group?

Well on that one, I have a couple groups I belong to. the first group is called seedz of shabazz ( me rebel palestine, dlah, lu struggz) in that group we switched up our stage names, where as i am lord subliminal in seedz im asiatic assasin, dlah is the ldah(elder) lu struggz is the righteous villin, rebel palestine is scientific messiah. we chose these names because we are all afiliated and deal with islam. rebel palestine is muslim, me lu struggz and dlah are gods dealing with 120 lessons brought to us by allah the father as our foundation. The second group is lone wolf and cub, which has lu struggz as lahk and load lahkim, and me as shell shahk shahkim. We decided this because we both are into and practice martial arts and we are a lot like the characters we are both renowned warriors. plus we all are a part of future chamber third group is the coalition of the willing, which features chattanooga's finest. in the coalition there is ( street slaves, wise council, 21 soul, natural habits, rebel palestine, big pat, donny mcklain, lazt villinz, yattie westfield) this was a group I got involved with before I moved to the Bronx (pelan) and still do shit with.

What are your releases/collabos so far?

So far my release is my subliminal thought album. I have collaboed with dr holmes(cambridge mass), snake vs crane(berlin), zoc the shogun(japan) prince equality(denmark), hellkeydo, helmet heroes, as well as lazt villinz, 21 soul, wise council. working on doing something with tru and livin (new jerz), beretta9 (killarmy)

What kind of message are you trying to bring with your music?

revolution- that this is the end of trivial bullshit

How do you see hip hop, and you? Do you see Hip Hop as a religion, art, culture, a career, job, or just a hobby?

I see hip hop as the chalk board and I'm a teacher with the chalk writing out the history. I see hip hop as a culture because it like islam is a way of life that incorporates all into it.

With all these rappers on myspace... do you think there is a big competition?

Not really, because for in underground there is a larger enough space for everyone to shine.

What do you think of Mainstream Hip Hop today vs Mainstream hip hop 5 years ago? Where do you think it is heading?

Today the mainstream is due for a complete overhaul, I have a line in my interlude saying "its time to melt the ice and flood the land with drastic reform" the mainstream of today is all about ice, rims, sexual perversion, and people capitalizing off someone else's mistakes. i.e. gangbanging. the mainstream of yesterday was talking about the same shit but there was more positivity in the music back then. if you heard uncle luke from 2live crew spouting off obscenities you had brand nubian, king sun, poor righteous teachers, public enemy, and krs one to bring you back to reality. not that Im baggin on uncle luke cause I listened to it too. i really feel like mainstream is heading for a complete change cause with artist like 50 cent or some run of the mill likely to see out cat from 106 and park hip hop is really in trouble.

Do you make your own beats?

No, I don't make my own beats. I received ill tracks from DLAH, SNAKE VS CRANE, PRINCE EQUALITY, DR HOLMES, MALIK AKABR, WHITE LOTUS, BEATMASONS,ANTIBLING RECORDS.

Do you talk to anyone from the Wu family?

I have built with Killah Priest, Cappadonna and Hell Razah.

Any more collabos planned hellkeydoe?