You won't hear the name MC Eiht mentioned much on the radio, but you'll definitely hear his name on the streets. One of the few artists who can boast longevity in the rap game, Eiht has never changed styles or answered to anyone. For 15 years he has consistently banged out records, from his first release in 1990, It's a Compton Thang (with his group Compton's Most Wanted) to his latest solo release, Veterans Day.

MC Eiht found much of his fame playing the character A-Wax in the classic 1993 gangsta flick Menace II Society, and he also contributed the lead cut, "Streiht Up Menace," on the film's best-selling soundtrack. It wasn't Eiht's first time on a high-profile soundtrack, though, because his single "Growin' Up in the Hood" was a highlight of 1991's Boyz N the Hood.

The last 10 years have seen MC Eiht's career level off, but his cultish popularity remains. Don't doubt the man's credibility! The ex-Crip gang member has become one of the most respected and truthful street rappers on the West Coast. Even the late 2Pac is on record as having said that Eiht's music is what got him through each day of his jail sentence. If that's not genuine respect--as well as a hint to pick up some of Eiht's albums--nothing is.

We spoke with MC Eiht, who was at his home in Compton, California, by telephone shortly after the release of Veterans Day.

MP3.com: For those who aren't familiar with you, describe who you are and what you represent.

MC Eiht: First of all, MC Eiht's from Compton--representin' Compton, the West Coast, Southern Cali, and the Bay. I started out in 1988, back when the West Coast didn't have too many labels. The West was strictly underground. We had to listen to East Coast music. I grew up off of Too Short, Toddy Tee, Mix Master Spade, and all that, but right around the time rapping caught my interest, I was listening to Run-D.M.C., Treacherous Three, and Schooly D. That's when n***** started makin' hood tapes like Too Short used to do. I wasn't sellin' them--I just got into the rap game.

MP3.com: It's good to know you're still stayin' up.

MC Eiht: Oh, yeah. Definitely, definitely. Gotta do that. I just try to put out a record every year, no matter what scale it is, whether it's independent or major--just so the people can keep in touch with MC Eiht and know that I'm still out here representin' the West Coast and Compton. Because it don't seem like we got too much West Coast representation goin' on right now.

MP3.com: So it's 2004, and you've got Veterans Day out. What message are you trying to send, and who are you trying to target?

MC Eiht: I'm just tryin' to target the real street n*****. I'm not going commercial. I'm not looking for any crossover Top 40 appeal or lookin' for radio play. You can give me a few mix-show spins, and I'm glad with that, you know? I'm just looking to target people who are sick of all this other b******* in hip-hop. I'm targeting the underdog--the rebellious who are tired of turning on the radio having to listen to the same s*** every day and [put up with] bling-bling, platinum jets, gold toothbrushes, and pissin' in a tubful of Cristal.

MP3.com: Well, I think Veterans Day is a smart album. I'm even hearing some old-school East Coast sounds and techniques.

MC Eiht: Ahh, right! See, I don't discriminate! I got homies from the East Coast, you know? I've been goin' to the East Coast since 1991. Every year I go to New York. I was there when n***** was first grindin'--Busta Rhymes, Nas, Gang Starr. I used to hang around all these cats when we used to be doin' retail runs, and [we were] bumpin' into each other on the road and doin' concerts together. So I respect [the East]. I won't front.

MP3.com: You just made me flashback to when you did that track with Redmanand Spice 1 back in '94.

MC Eiht: Yeah! '94... "Nuthin' but the Gangsta." We'd be on the road, and they'd see me and be like, "Aye, man. Come do a song with me. When I get to Cali, come pick me up." I was pickin' 'em up from the airport, no problem! Or bringin' the Geto Boys to my little apartment. We sittin' in there playin' Sega and s***. That's how we used to get down and kick it. I got respect for a lot of n***** who I hope got respect for me.

So I just wanted to keep it simple [on Veterans Day]. I ain't gonna run out and get 50 producers to make the sound different. I ain't gonna run out and get 50 guest appearances so people would think I need all these homies to make my record stand.

MP3.com: Early in your career, you jumped from Epic to Priority, and then you started doing indie work. What were you looking for bouncing around from label to label?

MC Eiht: Well, basically, me being with Epic was my first taste of being with corporate dollars. So I gained the experience, which was still b*******. But I got to experience getting on the road. I never got any mainstream help from Epic Records. They did give me a video and put me on a promotional tour, where I was able to get in touch with the n***** from the hood and the independent retailers.

Me getting with Priority... They were the kings of street rap. Going to Priority was like, "Now I'm officially with a label that's gonna represent what I do." And in the transition of going to Priority, I had a deal with [Craig Kallman's Big Beat label at] Atlantic, but at the time, they couldn't touch the type of music I was doin'. They wanted to change my format and have me bling-blingin', wearing furs, and all that, and I couldn't get down with it. That's how I ended up on Priority.

But that Priority deal didn't go too well, because if you looked at their roster, they already had everyone who was street--from Cube to Mack 10 and Snoop Dogg. I was at a point where I was the goldfish in the pond with all these piranhas. And when it's time to get fed, you know the piranhas are gonna attack it first. I was the little m*********, so they was leavin' me scraps!

MP3.com: What do you think of gangsta rap's image these days?

MC Eiht: Back then they banned us. Now it's cool to wear bulletproof vests in videos and talk about getting shot and tattoos and glorifying Bloods and Crips and wearing rags and throwin' up signs. When I used to do s*** like that, they was like "No way!", because they didn't want to exploit it. Now it's acceptable. What can we do? They're makin' so much money off that gangsta/thug image--that s*** they tried so hard to shut down. Everybody's on different pages.

It's the war now. So the system can't focus on n***** from the hood when they're focused on n***** overseas. When I seen the video with Jay Z getting popped, I'm like, "Oh, man. It's back to that?" Five years ago, they would've said "No way!" But now they run with it. It's election year, and they're focused on other s***. I made Veterans Day a smart street record--not trying to glorify anything, just trying to let n***** know that I do this. So while you're listening to all the other cats that do it like it's a brand-new sound... No, it's been here.

MP3.com: Veterans Day debuted at number 76 on Billboard's hip-hop charts.

MC Eiht: Oh, yeah. And I'm straight indie.

MP3.com: And that's with no radio play.

MC Eiht: With no radio, with no video. Nothing!

MP3.com: That's respect.

MC Eiht: It's respect, and it's grinding. I've been doing nothing but targeting Web sites. I know where them kids at. And someone had to make that point to me. I mean, I don't watch "Rap City," or "106 & Park," or MTV, 'cuz I know what they're gonna play. I don't need to watch that. That's the point of Veterans Day. We came in number 76 like a bullet: straight independent, no major distribution. Just straight out the box, and me going to the retailers, jumping on planes and flying to different states, talking to record stores, hooking up with mix-show DJs, just trying to get love on the strength. I'm just trying to do what I've been doing. I put out a record last year and the year before, and it wasn't on this scale. I didn't hit the charts. I didn't get interviews on MP3.com and all that. I just put the records out for the love.

I know that next year I'll be back in the studio working on another record for the summer. Like you said, "That's respect." People watched Menace II Society, they watched Hip-Hop Immortals, and then they focused back in on MC Eiht. People like G-Unit and Lloyd Banks mentioning my name are what make people look for Eiht.

MP3.com: Do you have any words for Cam'ron and his fans?

MC Eiht: See, I don't like to get into it, but this is my thang. I'm a true n**** who listens to rap. I came from the school where if your records weren't tight, they didn't get played. It wasn't about how much money you had to force someone to listen to your s***. I'm from [the point of view] where (Eiht bangs hard on a surface to emphasize his point) n***** do not wear pink! We didn't wear pink on the West Coast, and it just kinda pissed me off when I started hitting streets and young kids and some of these old cats [were] wearing pink LA hats and pink jerseys. You walk in stores and they selling pink Lakers jerseys and pink Compton jerseys, and I'm like, "No way!"

MP3.com: Well, you know Russell Simmons has a lot of pink in his Phat Farm gear.

MC Eiht: Well, that's Russell Simmons. Russell is not street. A 50-year-old man who got money like him? He's gonna wear what he want to. I don't care.

MP3.com: Looks like retirement clothes.

MC Eiht: Right! But not when you representin' the street. Fashion statements ain't for n*****, man. I like to look cute for a lady now and then, you know, but I'm not gonna take it to the extreme. You know n***** wanna voice their opinions on it, but they afraid. I'm not lookin' to get into fistfights over it; I'm just voicing my opinion.

And they trying to represent Bloods, and that's something I can't get down with either. I know real Bloods. I was born here in Compton, you know what I'm sayin'? For someone like me, who's been going to New York since '91, there was not a gang in New York on a Crip or Blood level. That's just disrespecting the whole thing. 'Cuz when he [Cam'ron] was rappin' years ago--"Horse & Carriage," "What Means the World to You,"--there wasn't nobody [in the videos] throwin' rags and "B" ["Blood" gang] signs.

It's just a disrespect thing to me, you know? Just watch where you're steppin', because this gang thing is nothing to be taken lightly. This is real. This is not something you watch on TV and take back to your block and say, "We gonna form a crew and call ourselves the Bloods." This is not high school initiation-type s***. I know New York. I've walked through Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Staten Island. And never in my life have I seen BK [Blood Killer] or CK [Crip Killer] on the wall. There ain't even any Crips in New York.

MP3.com: What would you say if I told you I just copped We Come Strapped, Death Threatz, and Veterans Day free off the Internet?

MC Eiht: [Brief silence] Well...I would say...in a way I'm kinda 50/50 on it. Because We Come Strapped and Death Threatz was on Epic, so I really don't give a f***. It gets people in touch with who I am. With Veterans Day, I would call it both a positive and a negative. It's cool [since it's] like street promotion, but then it's costing me some money. So [being] independent, it kinda hurts my pockets a little bit. I guess I gotta pay for it.

MP3.com: So you're pretty much in the middle.

MC Eiht: Yeah. I'm in the middle. I feel that if we make good enough s*** for people to respect us enough to cop it in the stores, maybe they wouldn't have to download it. I guess that's why I charted at number 76, because people felt the respect to go buy my record, instead of just saying, "F*** it! It's just another record from Eiht. Let me download it."

MP3.com: Do you own an MP3 player?

MC Eiht: No.

MP3.com: Do you know if Veterans Day will be available digitally?

MC Eiht: Yeah, we workin' on it right now. I didn't expect the record to make so much noise to a point where people would want to get so much information about it--having it legally available online, interviews, and all that. So I'm kind of overwhelmed. But it's goin' good, and I'm workin' it out. I'm lookin' back at the hard work I've put in the last 14 years, and 15 albums later, it's finally paying off. Sometimes it don't happen overnight.