Rapper Wax on 'Rosana' and Little Mamacitas Who Don't Play

From "Rosana"

I recently meet up with local rap sensation Wax, whose raunchy hit "Rosana" is all over radio and YouTube. (Its equally raunchy video is below.) We're at Melgard Public House, and I'm informed that I just missed something newsworthy. "Just before you got here, there was a homeless guy that pulled down his pants and showed his penis," says the MC, whose real name is Michael Jones. "I got way too good a look at that shit. It was crazy."

The 33-year-old D.C. area native is Cuban and Irish. He's evolved over the years, from the lead singer and guitarist of MacGregor -- a funk- and hip-hop-influenced jam band -- and political science major at University of Maryland into an L.A.-based solo rapper with a penchant for funny lyrics and zany Internet videos. He was signed by Def Jam early last year, and Rosana -- "Rosana/ Freaky little mama/ She be trying to fuck all day" -- has 2.6 million views. In front of his Sunset Strip Music Festival performance tomorrow we sat down with him over an extra-tall mug of Stone IPA to discuss drugs, women and online haters.

Was it hard to concentrate on set of "Rosana" with Playboy model Melissa Soria dancing around half-naked?
No, because we became friends. Because she's done the Playboy stuff, she's really good at emitting sex. It was more fun and goofy on the set. I wasn't getting an erection.

Be honest. Did you start rapping so you could meet chicks like Rosana?
[Laughs]. No, I started rapping when I was a little kid. I wrote my first rap song in sixth grade about my friend's white dude haircut.

Are you dating anyone now? What do you look for in a woman?
I'm currently single. As shallow as this may sound, I look for a woman who isn't clingy and doesn't need too much time. I'm so busy. Oh, and they have to have a good sense of humor. She needs to laugh at my horrible jokes.

How did growing up in Dunkirk, Maryland influence you?
I was definitely influenced by some of the music there. There's local DC music called go-go, which I love. I grew up in the suburbs, and there were a lot of woods around with a lot of pot smoking, camping and trouble. There wasn't much to do there, so we did drugs and jammed out.

Were you doing any other drugs besides pot?
We did a lot of hallucinogens. Acid and mushrooms are big where I'm from. We did a lot of huffing household chemicals, freon and butane. I did a lot of nitrous.

You're working on a new album. When will it be released, and what can we expect with it?
It will be out around Halloween. It's going to be really organic-sounding. There's going to be a lot of live instrumentation. It's going to be less strictly beats and rhymes.

Danielle Bacher

Wax

Is it different than music you have already released?
Yes. It's going to be grown folks' music. My fans won't be as shocked by it. They'll be like, "Oh, that's the Wax we know."

What do you mean by "grown folks' music?"
It's going to be hard for a 13-year-old kid to understand some of the subjects, like living with a girl in your own place and then breaking up with her, or alcoholism. The topics are what grown folks deal with. There is a lot of relationship stuff on this.

Do you have a problem with alcohol?
I wouldn't call it a problem. It's going to be a problem when I'm 40. It's a slow problem. It's like any relationship: it starts small and you don't pay attention to it, and then eventually it's a big problem.