She’s the gully, fire-mouthed lyricists from New York. Born and raised in the heart of MC Shan’s hometown, Persia was the heart… and voice… of the (White) Rapper Show. Her antics drew the ire of the Black community (using the N-word), the laughter of millions (John Brown + A Dildo = Comedy Gold) and the respect of a hip-hop legend (MC Serch).

Unfortunately, Ms. Persia was eliminated from the show for, again, blanking out during her verse. The chance at $100,000 is lost to the New York rhyme animal, but HHDX hopes that this doesn’t stop her from accomplishing her goal of being one of hip-hop’s most respected lyricists.

The Queen of Far Rockaway Queens chops it up with HHDX as she waxes poetic about her blanking out during the challenges, her confrontations with John Brown and dishes on the disses to a certain “misfit”…

HHDX: You and Sullee were the strongest lyricists in the house. How did it feel when he decided to leave the show?
Persia: I personally wanted to whip Sullee’s ass because he left. Since he chose to leave, I was hot! He looked at me before the elimination started up and said, “I’m sorry”. I wanted to go his home and kill him after he did his verse. We couldn’t talk to them after the eliminations were over, but he left me a letter on my bed telling me about how he felt. I’m disappointed, we decided that it was going to come down to him and myself. We knew that we would have to battle it out, but we both knew that it wasn’t going to be personal. I mean… come on… he couldn’t go at John Brown. Hell, after the challenge was over, he wasn’t his teammate anymore. But I understand why he left… I know he was stressed and tired of always having to be in the elimination process.

HHDX: Far Rockaway is a not a place for softies. How did your home influences your straight-to-the-point rhyme style?
Persia: It comes natural to me, honestly. Whatever comes out of my mouth hits the paper. When I write, it’s always about an experience… whether past or present. I don’t write for the radio, never have any intentions on doing so, either. I never sit down with something pre-planned. I had just started rhyming about four months before the show began taping. I had never been on a stage, never performed in a whole bunch of people, never really got that much into the craft of rapping until then. My nerves got to me. I mean, Serch was standing there all those times and he’s a legend in my eyes. Knowing that he’d either be impressed or not, always messed with my mental. But I guess this time it had got the best of me.

HHDX: On your MySpace blog, you said that you’ve only been rhyming for a year. Besides your deep love of hip-hop, what got you into wanting to be an MC?
Persia: It was pretty much a choice of what I do as a career. My mother had told me that I have a gift with words. I was about to write a book of poetry, but it wasn’t until someone heard me rhyming in the shower when I knew I had something going on. They thought it was hot, but I had friends in the industry who heard me rhyme. They always said that I should find my flow. So, when I saw the ad for the show, I never thought that I was going to win or even be accepted. I wanted to be on television, you know? But I was too old for the Real World and I didn’t go to college, so this (the show) was something that I wanted to do. At the auditions, when I got a chance to spit, everyone was like, “Wow…” I knew that my wordplay was sick, it’s been that way for a long time. But people always told me to work on it. So, when I did and Serch was impressed, I instantly became cocky from that point on.

HHDX: Over the course of the show, you got to meet influential cats like Kurtis Blow and Brand Nubian to underground champs like La Coka Nostra and Kool Keith. So, through it all what was your favorite experience and what did you take away from the show overall?
Persia: My favorite experience would have been when we got to meet Brand Nubian. I almost fainted! I mean I grew up rapping "Slow Down". My mom thought that that was really disgusting [laughs]. But I never in my life thought that I would meet them. I met M.O.P.. I had a mutual somebody who introduced me to them. Up until then, I thought that life was good… that was before I met Brand Nubian. In the end, seeing the great hip-hop icons actually impressed with my flow was better than winning. From guests to people in the house saying that I’m the realest person they met, was better than having the $100,000.

HHDX: White rappers have went from a novelty act to multi-platinum success. But your fellow contestants said that the (White) Rapper Show was a joke; that it mainly wanted to point of the racial differences within the hip-hop culture. What do you think?
Persia: I personally think that if you present yourself to be a joke than that’s what you will look like on television. You got to think that these people are supposed to be the “shit” where they’re from. But if they came from their hometowns, believing that they’re the truth, but they’re really a joke… then they have to face the fact that they’re not the truth… and have it aired on TV. Ego Trip is making fun of the race, but you have to take it from 0 to 100. You have the true hip-hop heads, then you have the cast who are strictly Malibu’s Most Wanted.

HHDX: So, who was the weakest rapper on the show?
Persia: Umm… let me… see… uh, uh… Misfit.

HHDX: As we got deeper into the show, you went from belittling John Brown to winning challenges with the California MC. But on your last episode, you ripped him again for his actions on Hot 97. What is it about John Brown that gets under your skin?
Persia: I’m not sure if that was done on purpose... I don’t think that he has the brains… Personally, I thought that he’s was what’s wrong with hip-hop. Lyrically, he’s hot… but what messes him up is his persona. He puts on his “hip-hop suit” and it just looks like a huge joke. I don’t know if he had this [persona] before he met Ghetto Revival… but they turned him into a joke. He’s never been to the ghetto… hasn’t seen one since Good Times. Man, I grew up in that area; in that era and he wants to revive that! It’s crazy. He was talking about that it’s his company. But it’s actually a brand ran by Black people. I asked him what he was going to do if he was to win the prize money and he was saying some shit like putting crops in the hood! Crops?! He doesn’t know what the ghetto is. I think he felt that it would look good for his rap career, I just think that it’s bullshit.

HHDX: You were bold enough to throw a dildo in his face, so since the show has ended… have you been in touch with anyone from the show? I know that you went to Boston to hang out with Sullee, so how was that?
Persia: Sullee is my right hand man. We’re about to move in together. I’ve spoken to Shamrock. To me, they have a love for hip-hop. They’re not trying to make themselves look like buffoons. Sullee and I are trying to get some songs together. You know… he’s young… he loves the music, but he gets distracted. I’m trying to help him out. The girls are all on him now, since the show and he calls me every night from a bar talking about that I get him some nighttime love. [Laughs] Sullee’s great... I never had a White friend before. So, I’m glad that he’s my friend.

HHDX: One of the interesting results that came out of the show was your beef with Misfit. What happened?
Persia: It’s not really a beef on my end, It’s more like talking about some truth-isms. Personally, I separate the person from the artist; as a person, she’s really nice. But as an artist, she’s a joke to hip-hop. I mean… she sleeps with rappers to get into the game! I’ve spoken to Proof’s people. She used him for her success. Exploiting him on her MySpace page was just wrong! A lot of people felt like I should’ve got at her. His family doesn’t have a voice. But the beginning of our “beef”… was petty. She had a shirt that said, “That Bitch,” but initially, I felt that she was stepping on my toes.

HHDX: So, what is it about her that gets you if there isn’t any beef?
Persia: I just don’t like how she represents hip-hop. She can get her Fergilicious on... her pop songs on, you know?

HHDX: What about her diss song to you on her MySpace page?
Persia: Well, DJ Mumbles is a 12 year old DJ from Detroit. The whole song was staged. I mean, all that she can say in the whole song is that I’m fat?! Shit… I must be doing something right. I was more embarrassed about her flow on the track than anything that she could possibly say. She embarrassed herself more just by rapping. She came at me like she didn’t understand why I was coming for her. But she has a track against Fergie on her page… so she should’ve expected it. As far as Misfit goes… my fans have beef with her. I think that she’s a sweet girl, but Misfit needs to stop rapping! She should dance… get her pop on… but she’s not hardcore hip-hop! She should stick to rhyming about cars and clothes. She can’t rep the block! There’s no beef, so there’s nothing to squash, I wasn’t offended by the fat thing. But I’d go at John Brown any day of the week. My mother said that he was a messager of the Devil. When he said, “The hate… I love it”. That was his plan to get me off the show; to make me unfocused. [Laughs] I hated him everywhere we went.

HHDX: It did seem like John Brown found a way to get into your flesh, but how did it start?
Persia: Initially, what happen is that he had that blank look on his face. I took that the wrong way. I thought that he was judging people, but it’s really the look of “duh”. But his bullshit, his propaganda and his “I’m Not A Rapper, I’m An Entity” schtick pissed me off. It was like, “Do you really know who Shock G is or do you think that him and Humpty Hump were two separate people?” He puts on a shirt and thinks he’s gangsta. I know that I had to live with him… but I had to make the world understand how much of a punk he is! Honestly, he should be a ghostwriter. He said that he was going to brainwash America, but Ghetto Revival is going to last way longer than his name. He overshadowed himself to make Ghetto Revival shine. I don’t think they’ll stand behind him after awhile.

HHDX: Your swag was phenomenal on the show and people easily thought that you were going to come away with the prize. Since your elimination from the show, what is new for Persia?
Persia: [Laughs] Right now, we’re working on a mix tape. It’s actually coming out tomorrow. I’m trying to stay out there, in the mix. I am going to do as many shows as possible. I don’t want to be the people to be fans of me from the show, I want them to be Persia fans. I do clubs… I do Easter Egg hunts for the kids. In order for me to stay in touch with the people, I have to keep my name out there in the streets. After the show finally ends and the contract is up, it will allow me to go for a deal. But right now, I’m just doing one album deals now. Trying to get into as many venues as possible. I don’t want my love of hip-hop to die down.

HHDX: So, do you wish that you won?
Persia: I’m glad that I didn’t win... I don’t want to be known as a “White” rapper… just as a great one. I’d like it better that way.