One Nasty interview

If you’re over the age of 21, you might remember a time when MTV actually played videos, when the Real World was the only reality show and MTV had a cast of colorful VJ’s.

One of those VJs is now the rapper Dirt Nasty, who’s performing at Whiskey Creek this Sunday, Feb. 13. His real name is Simon Rex and he’s had a lot on his platter since being canned from MTV back in 1998. Appearing in a slew of acting gigs including Scary Movie 3&4, Pledge This, Felicity, The Karate Dog and Ke$ha’s video for Tik Tok, Rex isn’t just an actor he’s a rapper. But I’ll let him explain.

Nasty: What’s up man?!

The Sheet: Hey Dirt Nasty or do you prefer to be called Simon, Dirt, or Mr. Nasty?

Nasty: Well, I mean my real name is Simon and Dirt Nasty is just a character, you know?  I mean for this piece I can be Dirt Nasty but in real life I don’t care to be called Dirt.

Sheet: Where are you at right now?

Nasty: I’m just about to walk into the gym.

Sheet: So you do the GTL (Gym Tan Laundry) thing?

Nasty: No no no. Just the G. I just joined this gym and it’s funny because Dr. Dre works out here and the last couple times I worked out the guy was here. I don’t know if you’ve seen him lately but the guy is f*ckin’ …huge man. He’s like a body builder dude. He’s crazy buff. It’s unbelievable. He’s like a super hero and sh*t.

Sheet: It’s obvious he spends too much time in the gym because it took way too long for his album Detox to come out.

Nasty: Yeah it’s like, at this point who even cares? I’ve heard a couple of the songs and just think that he waited too long.

Sheet: I hear you’re a pretty busy guy. You actually canceled your show up here back in December because you had a gig with Comedy Central. What was that project about?

Nasty: I was in pre-production for this show I’m doing with Nick Swardson. But you know I can’t really talk about it because it might happen, it might not. But you know, basically I gotta be available and be on call to do these network meetings and table readings and sh*t. You never know in Hollywood. They could call me right now and say it’s not happening.

Sheet: Listening to your music one thing comes to mind…You’re kinda like the Bob Saget of rap.

Nasty: Okay, that’s a first.

Sheet: Meaning people might know you as the TV personality/actor and then be shocked to find out you rap about ass cheeks and blow jobs. Do you get a kick out of  that?

Nasty: Oh no, I like that. It’s a good comparison, I get it. I actually know Bob Saget and he’s a cool motherf*cker in real life.

Sheet: Is he the same Bob Saget as on Entourage?

Nasty: Yeah, he is.

Sheet: I hope so.

Nasty: Yeah, he’s a dirty f*cking pig. But he’s amazing. He’s also a really nice guy. He’s dirty as sh*t.

Sheet: Do you guys hit up the strip clubs?

Nasty: Not strip clubs, just dive bars and sh*t.

Sheet: So I gotta know, how much of Dirt Nasty is an act, you know like Alice Cooper?

Nasty: It’s all a character, you know. I’m not up there doing blow, it’s a joke. It’s a total character. I jump onstage and I talk differently, I walk differently I dress differently. It’s a persona. But people think it’s real and they’ll come

up and hand me an eight ball. It’s gotten to the point now where I’m just tired of even saying “look man, I don’t do blow.” So now I’ll just take it and throw it away or I’ll lie and say I just got out of rehab yesterday. I don’t even want to explain it anymore. But it breaks their hearts when they find out I’m not who they think I am.

Sheet: It breaks their hearts?

Nasty: Yeah, they’ll be like, “Oh man I thought we were going to party all night and do blow!”  I’m just like “Nah, I don’t want to party with you and your four dudes.” You got to take pictures with the fans and hang out. But they wanna party. It’s one thing if it’s a hot chick coming up, but if it’s a bunch of frat dudes I’m like, yeah I really wanna hang out with you guys.

Sheet: So I was checking out YouTube today and I think by far your best video is for the song “Cracker Ass Fantastic.”

Nasty: Thank you.

Sheet: Maybe because I can kinda relate to it or maybe because I love going to Ross’s.

Nasty: Ha … both!

Sheet: Do you ever shop at Ross’s? Maybe to pick up some Dirt Nasty gear?

Nasty: Yeah, not as much anymore. When I was a kid, I got arrested at Ross once for shoplifting. And I’m on their database and can’t walk into any Ross because I stole there and got arrested. That was like 7th grade.

Sheet: Please tell me you were trying to steal some Makaveli jeans.

Nasty: It was back in the day when the surf sh*t was in, it was like some Town and Country sh*t. Way back in the day.

Sheet: Do you ever get any sh*t for your lyrics?

Nasty: Yeah I do sometimes. Rarely, but you know some people don’t get that I’m joking around and they’ll take it to heart. It’s like dude, I had a song called “Animal Lover” where I talk about f*cking animals so it’s like at this point everything gets thrown out the window. If you really want to analyze my lyrics then where do you draw the line?

Sheet: I think people might be dumb enough to believe that.

Nasty: Well there’s a lot of dumb people out there. The masses eat McDonalds, watch sh*tty T.V. and listen to Dirt Nasty. So there you have it.

Sheet: I’m glad you can make fun of yourself.

Nasty: Ah yeah, that’s all I do. That’s my whole forte. I just make fun of myself as being an actor in LA trying to make it. Nobody really has that angle. I think as a white rapper you have to have some sort of angle. You can’t just try to be black and act hard. That ain’t happening. My angle is to make fun of myself…I’m the out of work Hollywood actor who can’t get into any clubs. It’s kind of like the anti-Entourage.

Sheet: You kind of cover that angle on your song “Dropping Names.”

Nasty: Yeah, I threw some people off with that one. I’ve had celebrities come up to me and be like “Will you make fun of me on another one?”  Like, I had David Blaine call me up and was like I heard that “Dropping Names” song,” I’m like, “Oh yeah?”  I thought he was going to put a hex on me or something. He was like, “I love it. Will you send me an autographed copy?”  I was like, “Hell yeah!” Some people get it and some don’t. Tara Reid loves it. She comes up and she‘s like “Oh my god, I loved when you make fun of me.” I’m like, “Okay whatever.”

Sheet: Tell me if this true or not; I heard you had a falling out with Mickey Avalon. Is that true, or is that just tabloid rumor?

Nasty: Yeah, we don’t get down no more. Uh, I’ll just say that we went our own separate ways. I don’t really need to get into personal details. But yeah, we don’t work together anymore.  But I still work with Beardo, Legacy, Andy Milonakis and all the other boys. Mickey Avalon is on his own trip now.

Sheet: Alright, so you used to work for MTV as a VJ back when MTV played videos, you know, the golden era. Were you pissed when they let you go?

Nasty: I mean it was a bummer. They fired like 5 people in one day. They always do that. They’ll fire all their cast and hire new ones. So one day they call us all in and they fired me, Jon Sencio, Idalis, everybody. At the time, I was totally bummed. It was a fun job, but looking back it was a good thing because if you stay there too long you get stuck and you won’t work elsewhere. So if I would’ve stayed there a year longer then I probably wouldn’t have an acting career. Everything worked out perfectly.

Sheet: Do you ever kick it with any of those old Vjs? ‘Cause man, I miss Bill Bellamy.

Nasty: Um yeah, I don’t kick it with ‘em. When I see ‘em around we always have a laugh. But I just saw Kennedy at the Jackass 3D premiere a few months ago.

Sheet: Do you watch MTV anymore?

Nasty: There’s no videos on it. It’s for 15-year old kids.

Sheet: So I was checking out your IMDB page. You’ve been in a ton of weird crap. Do you regret any shows or roles you’ve done in the past?

Nasty: Nah, man. Otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here today, touring the world doing movies and rapping. I don’t give a f*ck. I’ve done everything at this point.

Sheet: I also noticed a trend that you’ve been in a ton of stuff with Paris Hilton. What’s your connection with her?

Nasty: She’s a friend of mine. I’ve known her since before she was famous. She’ll do a movie and she’ll ask me to play her boyfriend. She’s just a friend of mine who likes to party. You know, when she has a boyfriend she disappears and when she’s single, she’s always hitting me up to kick it.

Sheet: I gotta know, does she just play dumb? Or is she really as dumb as she looks?

Nasty: I’ll just say this. I’m not going to talk sh*t on her or anything but she’s actually a lot smarter than everyone thinks. She knows what she’s doing.

Sheet: So before we go how would you describe your live show?

Nasty: Oh man. Even if you don’t like my music you should come out, it’s crazy. There’s a bunch of hot chicks, people partying … it’s all about the live show. Most rap sucks live. But we bring the party. Even if you hate my music…just come party. Who cares?

This event is 21 and over. Tix are $13 in advance, available at Stellar Brew and www.Ticketweb.com. The price goes up to $15 on the day of the show.

For more on Dirt Nasty, check out his website @ www.dirtnastymusic.com.