Nore has seen some crazy things since being initiated into the rap game, but the most astonishing experience to him was going to L.A. and getting love because of the Notorious B.I.G.'s murder and the fallout from the so-called East Coast/West Coast rivalry. He realizes he's not accepted by mainstream America, so don't be surprised if you see him chillin' on the corner smoking blunts with the locals and exchanging war stories in the most hard knock of hoods. "I'm a hood nigga," he affirms. "I can't go to Arkansas and not go to Little Rock. I can't go to New Orleans and not go to Magnolia or Calliope. I'm not a star in white America. Not to say that I want attention when I go out, but I wanna feel that hood love. So I gotta go to swap meets, and I gotta go to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. I gotta go to Slauson Doughnuts. I bought a 40 of Ole E in the store that O-Dog [from Menace II Society] shot the Chinese nigga at and went through the hood with that shit."

Most rappers would scoff at the idea of strolling through an unfamiliar hood in a different city, but to Noreaga, that's his way of staying in touch with his government cheese, housing project past. I bring up last year's annual African-American Day parade, which was held in more familiar territory to Nore, Harlem USA. He was performing on Hot 97's (NYC radio station) float with Mya and swarms of fans followed the concert on wheels for blocks. That was the day Nore realized he had cocooned from regular ghettizen into ghetto super star. "Woooo! Woooo! Woooo!," Nore shouts at the thought of that day last summer. "I performed in front of 40,000 people before, but when you walk in the arena they go [mimics pat down] or put you through metal detectors. When you perform from 96th Street to 145th Street with nobody gettin' checked, something could easily get fucked up. These muthafuckas gave me love. I mean grandma's were on terraces and balconies and roofs going 'what!, what!, what!.'"

However, when an artist finally "makes it," people sometimes get jealous, temper's tend to flare and in the process, heads get flown. Last August 29, Noreaga experienced all three of these things at the Zembo Mosque nightclub in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where he was slated to perform. Up until now, he hasn't really gone into detail about what exactly went down that night. "[The case is] still goin' on," he says in a disappointed tone. "We went to a concert and we didn't get there on time. But we didn't know that these people stayed to see me. So I got on anyway, and when I got on in the middle of the show, muthafucka whisper in my ear and say they ain't got the money," he explains. "So when they said they ain't have the money I continued the show. I said cut the record off, go to 'Super Thug,' did the whole 'Super Thug' and dropped the mic on the floor. The lady get on the mic, (and was like) 'Yo, the nigga got paid he frontin'. I said I didn't get paid. Mad niggaz was coming towards me like, 'Nore what's up,' giving me pounds. So I jump in the car, (and a) nigga threw a bike. My man got out (and) throw the bike back. So my mans beat a nigga up, and they say I did it." Nore was subsequently charged with aggravated assault and was actually considered a fugitive for about a week before turning himself in and posting $25,000 bail.

Besides his impending case in the Keystone State's capitol, Nore also has to deal with being at odds with one of his mentors, Tragedy Khadafi, formerly known as the Intelligent Hoodlum. Khadafi shot a diss at Nore on the fiery "Blood Type," and Nore bucked back with the hilarious underground "Halfway Thugs Part II." "I'm not gonna diss the nigga. That's not what I'm out for, cause I'm gonna be rich regardless. But son needs to talk to me," Nore says while sending out a personal message for Trag via Vibe online's video camera. "I gave you that name, let's not forget. You my nigga still. I don't know why you hatin' me, I don't hate you. Fuck it man, Snoop and Dre back together, Doug E. Fresh and Slick too." While the public has done their best to hype up the feud, Nore points out that if the beef was real somebody would've been in a body bag by now. "It ain't no beef," he says. "But as long as he keeps makin' a record I'ma make one too. I don't owe him nuthin'," he continues. 

While Nore claims there's no real bad blood between him and Trag, things weren't always this calm. The initial feud had the potential to become an all out war, but luckily Nore avoided filing an extensive war report on the matter. Ask anyone that went to this year's Impact Conference in Miami and they'll tell you that Nore was heated. "When I first heard the Trag song, I just wanted to beat him up. Then it got bubbly, and I wanted to shoot him. Then I left it alone," he says. "I went to Impact with 80 niggaz, searching for Trag. I mean I had 10 here, 10 there, 15 here, 20 there, 20 down the block, all with walkie talkies." When an unfortunate soul was spotted wearing a 25 II Life t-shirt, Nore and the team rolled up and literally stripped the shirt of his back. Another person at the wrong place at the wrong time carrying a 25 II Life poster suffered similar embarrassment. Nore says they did it "just to send a message. [But] I'ma man. I took it too far."

With the upcoming release of Nore's sophomore solo album, a new CNN CD on the way and an upcoming Thugged Out compilation LP and tour, his so-called beef with Tragedy is the least of his worries. He doesn't sound too troubled about his case in Pennsylvania either, just pissed off that he was the one blamed. Nore's future plans include jumping on the movie bandwagon a la Master P and Jay-Z, although he says the film will definitely not be in theaters. "[It's a] straight up murder movie," he says of the future project. "Murder, get head, bitches fucking, dying, no morals. You will not learn nothing from this." Despite his tremendous success, the man born Victor Santiago Jr. remains a thug at heart, and right now, the world's got love for thugs. You know longer have to speak up Noreaga, we hear you loud and clear.