Funny man for hire Mike Epps happens to be just that person who has mastered the art of the laugh, and his body of work can surely back up that fact. From Def Comedy Jam to starring in the Friday movies alongside Ice Cube, the Indiana native has left a trail of tears (from laughing) where ever he’s set up shop.
Coming off his hosting duties from the 2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards, the actor/comic also sets forth to display his musical side with his debut project, Funny Bidness: The Album.
And after a chance brush-in with Cash Money Millionaires Baby and Slim in the lobby of the Trump Hotel, you could find Mike Epps up in his luxury suite, filled with room service carts, and the aroma of weed smoke in the air, as he overlooks the view of New York City, getting ready to roll another blunt; discussing life as he sees it…
How did you first even get into comedy?
Mike Epps I started off just cracking jokes in school, and stuff like that… Then they had open mics, so I got into open mics… From there, I moved to New York City, and got on Def Comedy Jam, and then I got into movies…
Have you ever really bombed on stage before?
Mike Epps I never really just got BOMBED; I’ve always been like a likable and silly person…
So no one ever threw tomatoes at you, or anything like that?
Mike Epps Hell nah!
[Laughs]… So right now you have Funny Bidness: The Album making the rounds, for the people who haven’t heard it yet, what can they expect from it?
Mike Epps That sh*t is crazy… I got a song there called ‘Trying To Be Gangster,’ ‘Where The Big Girls At,’ and I have another song on there called ‘Ain’t Chu You’ that just came out with Young Dro and Dorrough¾ and I have Gucci Mane on the remix… I ain’t bullsh*ttin’, I ain’t playing…
[Laughs]… What first gave you the idea to do it?
Mike Epps I always been a fan of music, and I felt like with Eddie Murphy, Shaq, and Jamie Foxx doing them; I was like, “I gotta do me one!”
[Laughs]… Depending on how this one goes, you might do another?
Mike Epps Yeah…
Was rapping something that you were always interested in getting into?
Mike Epps We all grew up Hip-Hop… We all grew up saying someone else’s lyrics, so we all grew up as fans… We all grew up thinking we could rap, and I knew you grew up thinking you could rap at one time…
[Laughing]…
Mike Epps You probably still do! [Laughs]… But Hip-Hop is a passion, and it’s in everything…
You have Too $hort, Young Dro, Snoop Dogg, etc. on there, so was it hard getting the people you wanted to work with?
Mike Epps Yeah… Some people were like, “I ain’t rapping with that n*gga.”
[Laughs]… So some people weren’t with it?
Mike Epps Yeah, and that’s because they didn’t know what it was… But the ones that were cool enough with me to let them hear the music; they got it…
So have you found rapping and comedy to be one in the same, or is one harder than the other?
Mike Epps I’d definitely say that the music life is a little harder… The movie world is very political, and you won’t know if they don’t like you…
Plus you hosted the BET Hip-Hop Awards, so how was that experience for you?
Mike Epps It was cool; you know what I mean? To watch it on TV, and then for me to get an opportunity to host it was really-really cool…
Do you ever get nervous when you get in front of an audience to perform for the first time?
Mike Epps This is what I tell a lot of kids:
“DON’T BE AFRAID TO BE TOLD NO.” Because when you do get told no, and then when you finally get it; you’re going to be ready…
You’re going to be like, “F*ck y’all!” “This ain’t nothing!” “This ain’t sh*t!” “I’m smashing this!” So you kind of feel over-prepared a little bit…
[Laughs]… I might be wrong, but I think I read somewhere about you playing Richard Pryor in his bio picture… Any truth to that?
Mike Epps They announced me to play Richard Pryor, but unfortunately, I didn’t get to play it… That’s unfortunate for them… But I didn’t get in the business to play nobody…
All these kids in school right now, ask them who they know, and they’re going to tell you me… So that’s who I am for them… Hopefully somebody will play my life story…
So with the rapping, acting, and comedy, do you ever feel burned out? Do you ever feel like you need to break, and runway?
Mike Epps Yeah… And when I get that break, and runway, and I’m like, “I’m bored.”
[Laughs]… Did you ever have a plan B if your entertainment career never took off?
Mike Epps I wanted to be a kingpin…
[Laughing]… Are we ever going to see you in a stand-up special?
Mike Epps I got one on Showtime On Demand called ‘Mike Epps: Underrated, But Never Faded.’ It’s live in Detroit…
Is that how you feel about yourself? You feel as if you’re underrated?
Mike Epps UNDERDOG!
For real?! You feel like that?!
Mike Epps You don’t think I’m the underdog?
Not really…
Mike Epps How’s that?
Because people know your name, and your work…
Mike Epps Yeah, but they don’t know me from being my own guy in the movies… When I say “underrated,” I mean like I’m always getting second fiddle roles, or the third leading man…
The “Third Leading Man”?!?! [Laughing]…
[Laughs]… Yeah… But let me tell you this much right here: If you watch all my movies, I kind of outshined everyone I’m in the movies I’m with… But as you can see, its business, it’s politics, and it’s Hollywood; you know what I’m saying? But what can you do about it?
