Nobody does real talk like Reggie Ossé a.k.a. Combat Jack. The former rap industry attorney, media executive, author, and Internet radio talk-show personality now hosts The Combat Jack Show, where hip-hop's biggest names are put on the front line. The questions will be tough—and shots will be fired. Co-hosted by Dallas Penn, Premium Pete, and Just Blaze, The Combat Jack Show appears every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday on Complex TV.
In the last part of our three part interview with Maino on The Combat Jack Show, Maino talks about his growth as an artist, which began with distinguishing the streets from the industry. "It's cool for image, it's cool for records and all that, but this is not the streets, and I had to understand that." Citing lawsuits and cancelled performances as a wake up call for his behavior, Maino continued, "When you start stepping outside of that and actually putting your hands on people, you're scaring the money away. You're scaring opportunity away."
While Maino has certainly matured over the years, the Brooklyn rapper did recount one physical altercation he got into with Tragedy Khadafi over a missed payment for a verse. Explaining that Khadafi was avoiding him since pocketing the money ("I never heard from the guy"), the two crossed paths at an industry party, and Maino took action into his own hands, literally. "I didn't lose it; I let things happen. And it got bad for him."
Maino ends the conversation on a musical note by introducing his crew, The Black Flag Mafia, to The Combat Jack Show. With Push Montana, Twigg Martin, and Lucky Don in attendence (member Hustle Hard Mouse was missing in action), the group showcases their rhymes in a cypher.
Check out Episodes 1 & 2 below.
