Despot “Look Alive” Despot is a Queens rapper from Forest Hills, who has been signed to Definitive Jux for five years but has yet to put out a full-length album. We’ve been wondering what the fuck was up, but we needed some kind of angle for an interview so people don’t go, “Why now?” Here’s why now: Def Jux just put out their fourth roster compilation and Despot (aka Alec Reinstein) raps over a Ratatat-produced track called “Look Alive” and it rules.

Street Carnage: Definitive Jux Presents IV came out today. Did you sleep in fits before speed-walking to the record store only to beat the clerks to their own job?

Despot: I did, absolutely. I bought 3,000 today. Throughout the week I’m going to stagger 300, 500, and then 5000.

Obviously you guys want the compilation to make the Billboard Hot 100.

It will if I have any hand in it.

How long has it been since your debut album was supposed to come out?

Two thousand-four was when I officially signed the record deal. Before then, I think I had put out a single with Def Jux. I don’t remember if that was ’02, ’03, or ’04. It doesn’t matter. That’s when I started telling people my album was coming out.

Since then Def Jux has put out many albums — some by the same rappers.

Well the unfortunate truth is I’m lazy.

I’m looking at two different titles for upcoming albums. One is Hooray for Me and the other is Jerry, which is named after your father.

You see, everybody really likes my dad and Jerry is the name of the pretty much full-album I just finished with Ratatat last June. Evan from Ratatat was forcing me to make an album so he was like, “How about I make a beat on the bus everyday and you write a song to it.” This just goes back to me taking 100 years to make an album. With Hooray for Me, the title was scrapped — it’ll now be called We’re All Excited. Three or four songs I did with Blockhead will also be on it — stuff we did six years ago. El-P was like, “You have songs now. Let’s put them out for real.”

Click here for the rest of the interview....