Mac Lethal has been called a “contemporary cross between a folk singer and a stand-up comic” by Rolling Stone – and that dichotomy of inane observation and thought-provoking insight defines his debut album, 11:11. We spoke with Mac Lethal from his tour bus while on the road for the Everybody Loves a Clown Tour with label-mates Grayskul and Atmosphere. That tour bus is currently parked outside of Emo’s, where the Everybody Loves a Clown tour will be playing tonight at 10pm.

It’s Atmosphere’s tour to promote their new EP. Grayskul’s record and my record both came out pretty much in the past month, and Luckiam is with us. So Grayskul, me, Luckyiam, and Atmosphere.

The Everybody Loves a Clown Tour: Atmosphere with special guests Mac Lethal, Grayskul, & Luckyiam
Emo's [map]
$15, Doors at 9pm, Show at 10pm
[Tickets]

Interview continued after the jump.

Have you ever been to Austin?

Yeah, I’ve played at Emo’s a few times actually. I played there with Sage Francis in 2004, and I played there at the Rhymesayers showcase during SXSW in 2006. I’ve played at Emo’s three times.

What do you think of Austin?

What do you mean what do I think of Austin? Are you crazy? That’s a terrible question – Austin is the best city in the United States of America.

When you come to a place like Austin, which gets a lot of big hip-hop names coming through but is definitely better known for indie acts, do you think it’s a harder crowd to win over?

No. I’ve never felt that way. I’ve always felt that Austin was completely, 100% receptive to the show that I do.

But I’m kind of a hipster. I’m kind of an indie kid. I make sense in Austin. I have the long hair and the women’s pants – well, they’re not really women’s pants, but people think I’m a hipster. I’m really not; I’m kind of a gangster, actually.

But Austin has been an insanely dope crowd every time I’ve played there.

What’s the hip-hop scene in Kansas City like?

It’s a lot of gangsters. It’s a lot of Bay-area wannabe gangsters. Everyone is like, “Well, we live in the Midwest, so we get a little of the East Coast and a little of the West Coast and a little of the South...” No. Definitely not. We get Bay Area and Houston, Texas influence only in Kansas City.

And then there’s me and a bunch of other underground rappers. And I guess I’m an underground rapper.

And I’ll tell you one thing. You being from Austin – if you ask me if I like Austin barbecue better than Kansas City barbecue, you will get shot.

Does it come close?

You know what – it doesn’t come close, but I will acknowledge its existence. What’s that place called – Iron Works?

Yeah.

I ate Iron Works and they have ridiculous sausage. I’ve gotta give it up. I don’t eat barbecue outside of Kansas City, but I ate sausage there and it was good.

Have you ever played in Houston?

No, I actually haven’t. I’ve played in Dallas, Lubbock, Austin, and El Paso.

Do you have any opinion on Houston rap?

I like Houston rap, but I’ve always liked Houston rap. I’ve been listening to Houston rap since the Geto Boys and Bar None – that’s been my thing forever. I have a cassette tape, South Park Psycho by Ganksta NIP, that I could sell on eBay for $900. But I won’t, because how could I get rid of my Ganksta NIP tape?

So my opinion of Texas rap is what it has always been – I think there’s a lot of dope shit that comes out of Texas, just like there’s a lot of whack shit that comes out of Texas. Just like there’s a lot of whack shit that comes out of everywhere. I think that lately, over the last few years, it’s left this big carve in the sound of rap and influenced the beats and the tempo of what people like to move their bodies to in clubs.

But in my opinion, Houston, Texas remains the same. Houston has a lot of dope shit and always has. For years. Like 50.

So if I saw you on the street and you didn’t know who I was, and we were walking in opposite directions but on the same side of the sidewalk, and I cupped my hands around my mouth and screamed out “WHO?!?!,” how would you respond?

I’d say, “MIKE JONES!,” man. Is that the answer that you wanted?

Yes, it is.

Mike Jones talks about this tummy. He’s the hardest motherfucker. Anyone in a rap song that can talk about their tummy, man.

I got a copy of your record – I really like it. Can you tell me a little bit about it?

I had this record done for Rhymesayers that I made in 2004 and some of 2005. And 2006 went by and we were figuring out what I was going to do and how and how we were going to put it out, and I think they thought it was kind of dated. Which it was, because it was three years old.

I just started making shit with better beats and different tempos with different producers. So through January, February, March, April, May, June, and July I wrote, made a demo, and then re-recorded, mixed and mastered that record. So that’s pretty much this year’s record.

I’m getting ready to get off this tour in a month, chill for a month, and then make another record in 2008. I’m like Too Short – an album a year. Just coming out once a year with something and then a side project.

One thing that kept coming up while I was reading about you was Scribble Jam ’02 MC championship that you won. Do you enjoy battle rapping?

No. I hate it. I hate watching it, I hate doing it – I think battle rapping is retarded.

You know what I like? I like battle records. I really want to get into some shit on wax with somebody. I’m too much of an asshole to lose in that situation. Hell, anybody – El P, 50 Cent, I don’t know. Name a bunch of rappers and pretend that I called them out.

I’m down to get into a battle rap contest. I’ll just dis the shit out of somebody. I’ll read about them on the internet. I’ll go to their town, go to their school, talk to their old neighbors to find out shit about them. And I’ll come out with the most raw, inappropriate dis record about them.

What can someone expect from your show on the 30th?

My live show is like getting hit in the head with a golf club. What I try to do with my live show is lay people on a driveway and just run over them with a Ford F-150, back and forth and back forth until they’re just like a big pancake of flesh all over the driveway. And then I roll myself up in their flesh.

That’s basically my live show. It’s the equivalent of getting a person shoved up your ass. Like a 235-pound linebacker for Oregon State University. His entire body. With his football equipment on.

So it’s a lot like going to prison?

No, it’s not like going to prison. I don’t mean sex -- a person, their entire physique, head-first, shoved into the audience’s body. Anally. There’s no sexual connotation there.

Photos courtesy of Mac Lethal