Mikey: Earlier this week I had the chance to speak with Ron Artest, the always entertaining and a just a bit off the wall NBA World Champion. Just a few weeks ago, Artest helped the Lakers defeat the Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA finals. From an unknown vacation spot near Puerto Rico, I got Ron on the jack to discuss everything from Game 7, his reasons for seeing a psychologist, working with Dr. Dre and more.

Let’s talk about this “Champions” record, did you really record it a year ago?
Yea, I recorded it last June. Because before I even won I just felt like a champion in life. The song came out so dope and I wanted to put it out right away. But Polow the Don and Interscope were telling me to wait until I win the championship. And I was just thinking dumb like ‘Nah nah, put it out now.’ It’s bugged out [that] most of the things I wrote in the song came true in game seven. Yo, “Champions” has been my biggest song to date!

I also heard that Dr. Dre actually worked on the record…
Well, Dre is my man and a couple of his writers helped out a lot on the record, but he didn’t actually produce “Champions.” Me and Dre wrote a brand new verse for the song but depending on the remix if we can get Game, 50 and T-Pain on the hook than we’ll decide what we want to do with it. Dre was just coaching me and telling me the verse was stupid. Right after the game, I went straight to Dre’s studio and recorded that new verse. Chris Brown was actually there, and I gave him my jersey. (via VIBE)

More excerpts and Ron’s music video for “Champions” + his crazy Chelsea Lately appearance after the jump…

Is Chris Brown getting on the remix?
Nah, he was just there, and he wanted my jersey [laughs].

How did you link up with Dre in the first place?
Well, I knew a lot of Dre’s people and honestly I was trying to talk to him for like five years. I kind of got lucky. One day me and my man Chalice went up to the Interscope offices with no appointment and of course we got shut down fast. But I always felt like they were the only people that could market me. They did Tupac, 50 Cent, Eminem and now Ron Artest—we are all rebels. Eventually when I did get to meet some people from Interscope and I slowly got to meet the whole staff and was finally introduced to Dre. It was a long ass process though.

So is Dre working on your album?
I mean it’s pretty much done but if someone like Dre or Polow has some ideas I wouldn’t mind taking them. He did help me out with a record or two, but he didn’t necessarily work on the whole project. He was just looking out.

What was your Chelsea Lately appearance all about? I mean you were a trending topic on Twitter last week.
That was crazy, I couldn’t believe it but it was something that I planned, so I could get a wild reaction. Chelsea’s crazy so I knew she was going to come at me. So I figured I’ll catch her off guard and give her a taste of her own medicine. But nobody expected me to start going off like that. I got Chelsea Lately! Who can say that?

(Read the Full Interview at VIBE)

Ron Artest “Champions”

Ron Artest on Chelsea Lately