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Talking with the members of the socio-political trio T-Weaponz is like being in that college history class where you’re intensely bombarded with 40 minutes of straight knowledge. The East New York, Brooklyn group, who are making a name for themselves in the rap world, (Psalmz, 27, Ark, 27, and Iz-Real, 28), share their insights about life, Latinos in the States, the war, even—gasp!—L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. You wouldn’t expect less after listening to the message-heavy songs in their debut album Just Begun (under their own indie label Defiant Entertainment). With so much talk about the issues that are affecting us and how they’re about to play out in the upcoming elections, we were curious to see what they thought. So we let them go at it for a couple of hours in the Atrium Lounge at New York City’s Marriott Marquis. Get ready to take notes.

[Sí] Ent.: Immigration reform . . .
Psalmz: The laws are extreme—with all these criminals and everything that’s happening, does the government really need to worry about a person who just wants to come in and drink clean water, or one who wants to come and just work? This place we’re sitting in was probably built by immigrants. I guess they’re trying to bring attention to immigration during a time that we’re at war to take our minds off the conflict in the Middle East.

[Sí] Ent.: George W. Bush’s war . . .
Ark: It’s a big crock! It’s more than just oil, it’s like we’re trying to control the world. The United States is the only country that can go into any other country and impose its will. Picture China just coming in here and telling us, "Okay you guys have to cease and desist this and that"—there’s no way! But of course it’s all about money—when there’s a war going on, everyone’s getting paid: there’s positions, salaries, contracts. A lot more money gets generated.

[Sí] Ent.: Politicians . . .
Psalmz: At the end of the day every politician has skeletons in his closet. They should not be judged by their personal life, everything should be judged by the work they do. We need to back our politicians, even if they f-up. So Antonio Villaraigosa got caught with a journalist. That coulda been a scam! No matter what, we have to still support—win or lose, wrong or right—we have to support our people in power.

[Sí] Ent.: Global warming . . .
Ark: There’s no preparing to avoid global warming, now it’s just preparing how we’re going to deal with the changes.
Psalmz: To be honest with you, I think it’s too late to save the planet. What we can do is still treat the Earth well. It’s like if you had a sibling or a person you love that who’s dying, you don’t treat them poorly in their last days, you want them to know that you’ll be good when they go. That’s the same way we have to treat Earth in its last days.

[Sí] Ent.: The future . . .
Ark: Get good teachers because not everybody can be a teacher. If you’re not really in it because you really want to help the kids, then don’t go into it. You know what it is, though? It’s the money. Teachers should be one of the highest paid professions. I mean, you have strippers walking out of strip clubs with $2,000 a night! Bartenders walking out with $1,000, $2,000 a night. Why can’t a person who’s cultivating the future, our children’s future, not get paid like that?
Psalmz: Education is for defense purposes: You have to be able to defend yourself in the corporate world, in the political world or in any world.