Twenty years after the world memorized his phone number, the Houston legend is lighter, calmer and weirdly into the tax code. He’s still doing what he’s always done best: being Mike Jones.
Mike Jones shows up in Los Angeles looking healthier than he has in years, calm and confident, and wearing a jacket in the California heat. There’s a reason for the jacket, he laughs. He’s been putting in the work on his weight-loss journey.
“I’ve been really trying to get it right and get it together,” he says with a smile.
For the artist whose “Still Tippin’” helped define an era of Southern hip-hop, longevity isn’t a given. Plenty of his early-2000s peers faded into nostalgia. Jones still tours, still records, still has fans who never left. Before every show, the routine starts the same way.
“I pray to God,” he explains. “I thank the Lord for me being able to still be here this long and the fans still appreciate me and what I lay down and what I’m doing still.”
That gratitude runs through everything, cannabis included. Asked how much he smokes in a day, he just grins. As for the internet’s favorite debate, brushing your teeth before or after smoking, he doesn’t hesitate.
“Before, during, and after.”
Only Mike Jones could make dental hygiene sound like a lifestyle.
On the best cannabis in America, there’s no hesitation either.
“Cali for sure.”
High praise from a Texas legend. But for Jones, the session is less about the flower than the company. Asked about his biggest pet peeve when he’s smoking, his answer has nothing to do with someone hogging the blunt.
“Somebody who ain’t motivated.”
For him, the room matters. Cannabis is part of a productive environment, not an excuse to sit still.
The sense of humor is intact, too. Asked what’s at the top of his playlist that isn’t one of his own, he answers with his signature hit.
“Back Then They Didn’t Want Me.”
The punchline lands because everyone already knows the next line.
More revealing is the lesson he says changed everything. Not music, not fame, not cannabis.
“Learning the IRS tax code.”
Understanding taxes, he says, changed how he approached wealth, moving him from earned income toward passive income.
“It’s not what you make,” he explains. “It’s about your classification.”
It’s the answer of a man thinking about ownership and generational wealth, not just the next record.
And when the session leads to snack time?
“Crunch n’ Munch.”
These days, it looks like a jacket in the California heat, a workout before the interview, a working knowledge of the tax code and a session full of people who actually want to do something. Twenty years after “Still Tippin’,” Mike Jones is still here, still tipping, and apparently flossing before, during and after.
