I don "t know "bout nobody else, but when you do four years in prison, you come home with a different mindset. I don "t give a f**k who you [are], whether it "s to come out here to rob n*ggas and do the same sh*t you was doing, or it "s to get your life together and do something positive. I felt like I needed to come out here and do something positive. Soon as my first and second album came out, where was I at? Jail. How the f*ck you got an album out and you in jail?!

I learned something in the penitentiary: You don "t have to be hard all the time. You can sit back and enjoy your life sometimes. ["Celebration"] is a track that was meant to be. It was meant for me to have that record in my discography, na "mean?

When you think of Black Rob, you know everything I put out is hardcore. Songs like, "I Dare You" or "Whoa" or "You Don "t Know Me"; all my singles are on some hard sh**. People associate me with hard music. But [think about] LL Cool J. He came out hard, then changed his pitch-up and made a song like "I Need Love" - that really took him to the next level. 50 Cent is another [example]: He made all those hard records but then he came out with "In The Club".

My manager got the beat for "Celebration" from a producer named The A3 and sent it to me while I was in jail. I got like two duffle bags - big notebooks - full of rhymes that I wrote from when I was up north. So it was written while I was up north, and when I got home I already had it. Soon as he played it, I ran through three verses and we was outta there. One take. I don "t have alotta means that I had when I was dealin " with Puffy and alotta those guys. I had access to the studio 24 hours, but now, I don "t have that so people may not hear alotta the records I wanna put out.

The original version sounded a little something like Big Pun "s "I Don "t Wanna Be a Playa". At first we had a Marvin Gaye sample, but we couldn "t use it so we did the whole sh** over. I "m at the point in my life now where I ain "t gotta settle. I know who I am now. You can "t just throw me a bone. You gotta throw me a bone with some meat on it, know what I "m sayin?! I "m havin " fun on this track. Cuz the next record "s not gonna be so fun.

Black Rob "s latest album, Game Tested, Streets Approved, is slated to drop July 26th.

Check out some footage from the "Celebration" video shoot below:

JUL 19th, 2011 Written Written by J.Bachelor for Black Rob sohh.com