Untitled - Ozone Magazine

Transcription

PUBLISHER/EDITOR:
Julia Beverly
MUSIC REVIEWS:
ADG, Wally Sparks
CONTRIBUTORS:
Bogan, Cynthia Coutard, Dain Burroughs, Darnella Dunham, Felisha
Foxx, Felita Knight, Iisha Hillmon,
Jaro Vacek, Jessica Koslow, J
Lash, Katerina Perez, Keith Kennedy, K.G. Mosley, King Yella,
Lisa Coleman, Malik “Copafeel”
Abdul, Marcus DeWayne, Matt
Sonzala, Maurice G. Garland,
Natalia Gomez, Noel Malcolm,
Ray Tamarra, Rayfield Warren,
Rohit Loomba, Spiff, Swift
SALES CONSULTANT:
Che’ Johnson (Gotta Boogie)
LEGAL AFFAIRS:
Kyle P. King, P.A. (King Law
Firm)
STREET REPS:
Al-My-T, B-Lord, Bill
Rickett, Black, Bull, Cedric
Walker, Chill, Chilly C,
Chuck T, Controller, Dap,
Delight, Dereck Washington, Derek Jurand, Dwayne
Barnum, Dr. Doom, Ed the
World Famous, Episode,
General, H-Vidal, Hollywood, Jammin’ Jay,
Janky, Jason Brown, Joe
Anthony, Judah, Kamikaze, Klarc Shepard, Kydd
Joe, Lex, Lump, Marco
Mall, Miguel, Mr. Lee,
Music & More, Nick@Nite,
Pat Pat, PhattLipp, Pimp
G, Quest, Red Dawn,
Rippy, Rob-Lo, Statik,
Stax, TJ’s DJ’s, Trina
Edwards, Vicious, Victor
Walker, Voodoo, Wild Bill
ADMINISTRATIVE:
Melinda Paz, Nikki Kancey
CIRCULATION:
Mercedes (Strictly
Streets)
Buggah D. Govanah (On
Point)
Big Teach (Big Mouth)
Efren Mauricio (Direct
Promo)
To subscribe, send check or
money order for $11 to:
1516 E. Colonial Dr.
Suite 205
Orlando, FL 32803
Phone: 407-447-6063
Fax: 407-447-6064
Web: www.ozonemag.com
Cover credits: Trillville photo
by Julia Beverly; Memphis
Bleek & Young Gunz photo by
Eric Johnson. OZONE Magazine
is published eleven times annually by OZONE Magazine, Inc.
OZONE does not take responsibility for unsolicited materials,
misinformation,
typographical
errors, or misprints. The views
contained herein do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher
or its advertisers. Ads appearing in
this magazine are not an endorsement or validation by OZONE Magazine for products or services offered.
All photos and illustrations are copyrighted by their respective artists. All
other content is copyright 2005 OZONE
Magazine, all rights reserved. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced
in any way without the written consent
of the publisher. Printed in the USA.
Hate it? Love it?
Send your comments to:
[email protected]
OZONE reserves the right to edit
comments for clarity or length.
JB, I read your article on BET, and I wanna tell
you, man, keep bussin’ they ass! That’s a real
reality check for their ass. We need more writers to do the same! – Greedy, [email protected] (Jackson, MS)
JB, I loved your “2 cents” editorial. I must say
I’m quite impressed because you’re a girl and
love hip-hop (no disrespect towards your female
abilities). You are now my new role model for
2005 and forever. Love the magazine. You get
two thumbs up. Congratulations on your recent
awards, and I wish OZONE the best as it grows
to become even more successful. – Trell Bolling, [email protected]
Fuck BET! Ha ha. I loved your editorial. Damn,
JB! You really impressed me with the way you
handled BET and their staff of haters. That really took some balls. BET should be trying to interview you! I know it ain’t easy being a female
in the industry, especially being a white female.
It’s a whole lot stacked against you and your
success, so for you to have taken your magazine
from nothing to what it is today is a huge ac-
complishment. Much respect to OZONE! – Ms.
Rivercity, [email protected] (Jacksonville, FL)
Yo, OZONE, don’t sweat the negative feedback
from people who were mad that their favorite artist wasn’t on the MTV Jams/OZONE 25
Greatest Southern Artists list. I’m not too sure
what it was based on, but I’m glad someone at
least took the time to recognize the fact that
we Southerners have what it takes. On another
note, free Pimp C! That was a really good look
doing an article on that cat. I miss the UGK
combo even though Bun B is holding it down.
Hopefully this mag will blow up to the point
where people ain’t buying The Source, VIBE,
and all those other New York mags that are out
there. Jax got your back. – [email protected]
(Jacksonville, FL)
I read your editorial about BET. That’s some real
bullshit. That was some hating-ass shit. Being
that you’re white, I’m laughing because I would
think the cops wouldn’t sweat you like that. But
you are a part of hip-hop, and anything hip-hop
is a threat to cops and security guard-types. In
my eyes, all that happened was you being invited by some friends of yours in the rap game,
and BET was hating cause you was cool with
them. I’m with you. Fuck puss-ass BET. Wait til
OZONE gets their own channel. – Q904balla@
aol.com (Jacksonville, FL)
I’m a fan of your mag, for real. I read JB’s current 2 cents and I’m glad you got vindication
and are still willing to forgive and forget with
that whole BET situation. – Rad-Z, raddness@
mycidco.com (Deland, FL)
I checked out your May 2005 edition, and I must
say again that the “all of the above” journalist
has done it again. You were holdin’ it down in
your 2 cents section. I’ve always hated the way
BET handled their business. They are beginning to suck. You should do an article on that
new Marques Houston video that they banned
from BET. They play all kinds of shit, like Nelly’s “Tip Drill” with him sliding a damn credit
card down a chick’s ass crack, but as soon as
a naked man appears on TV with the camera
“[After I got out of prison], hip-hop is the same shit, different toilet. Four labels,
already
two radio stations, one video station. And if you ain’t in cahoots, then you are
2005)
(June
Source
The
Kass,
Ras
line.”
bottom
g
fucked from the beginnin
.
“I’d never have surgery on my face. I’ve never seen that work out for anybody
2005)
(June
e
Magazin
Blender
Presley,
Marie
You should leave your face alone.” – Lisa
never came out
“Niggas look at me like, ‘Why Prospect and Geddy never came out?’ Maybe they
(May 2005)
XXL
Joe,
Fat
work.”
to
want
because they never went into the studio and made an album. Maybe they didn’t
learned lesson one of surviving in the hood: under
“[Dave Mays’] heart pumps pink kool aid. For all his love of the ghetto, he never
to take the ass-whoopin’ than to be [Benzino’s]
no circumstances are you to ever give your lunch money to a bully. It is far better
– Reginald Dennis interview on hiphopdx.com
ATM.”
l
persona
“[Lil Flip] is on some real gay shit. He a cake for real. He a hoe-ass nigga.” -
Slim Thug interview on sohh.com
girl - not, ‘Hey, bitch.’ I wake up every morning and
“Mario is my new boyfriend. You see what he’s singing about? Respect your
Fair
think, How did I end up in this hip-hop shit?” – Kimora Lee Simmons, Vanity
“People need to stop trying to do a hundred different things and pick what they
do really well and own it, wear it, and master it.”
– Steve Stoute, Vibe Magazine (May 2005)
to love. And I think love’s twin brother or love within
“Southern hip-hop, in everything we do and everything we say, it comes back
an ability to hurt us. All the stuff we talk about in
has
it
because
is
ng
itself is pain. Because the only reason why you love somethi
to the shooting and the busting to diamonds in our
our music is pain, whether we want to admit it or not. From the hoes in the club
into the ground from slavery up until now.” – David
hands. We shine because we felt bad for so long. Our self-esteem was beaten
Palmer’s book Adventures in Dirty South Hip-Hop
Tamara
to
d
Banner’s forewor
all the way down to a nigga’s penis, shit gets
shut down! What’s up with that? Not hot at all.
No female fun whatsoever. I think MTV is getting more viewers than BET, and that’s a damn
shame. Hip-hop is getting bigger, but where
the fuck are we going to display it if we can’t
air it on a network for the people who created
it - Black Entertainment Television? - Danielle,
[email protected]
Man, I don’t know what to write. I
really don’t know how I can top last
month’s “fuck BET” rant. In fact, I
wish people would kick me out of events
more often so I’d have something to write
about. A lot of people loved that BET editorial.
One person that emailed me even had a pretty good
suggestion: after I make my first mil or so, I might fuck
around and start my own TV channel. Watch out, BET.
I’m plotting right now. Females will watch my channel
instead of BET because I’ll have some decent male hosts
(no Ray J’s). We all know the ladies really run shit.
I just got the new issue of OZONE in the mail
and I read most of it already. I actually skipped
XXL and Scratch to get to the OZONE. My favorite part is always your “Industry 101” section.
Do you have a deal with Blackberry? Cause if
not, you’re giving them free press. They better give you a free phone and accessories since
you’re plugging them. And by the way, I read
your 2 cents, and I’d like to point out that Viacom also owns BET so they have a monopoly on
the two biggest media avenues for music: BET
and MTV! - Dajie, [email protected] (West
Palm Beach, FL)
I just happened to see your magazine for the
first time in the Affiliates’ office yesterday. IYour “Fuck BET” article is so hilarious. Keep up
the good work! - Leighton, [email protected] (Atlanta, GA)
What’s up, OZONE? I’d like to say first off that
I love your magazine. I read it all the time.
I’m not a rap artist from Tampa, but I love
the local talent. I think everyone from Tampa:
Tampa Tony, KRazy, Rated R, and Tom G are all
okay artists. But on the real, everybody in the
streets and hoods of Tampa knows that Tango
a.k.a. The Tan Man is the best rapper around
here. You need to put him in your magazine.
Big ups to you, OZONE! - Big C, biggcinne@aol.
com (Tampa, FL)
Correction: In last month’s “Industry 101,” the
studio number for Ray Seay’s The Vault was
listed incorrectly. The correct number is 305956-9435.
In my BET editorial, I didn’t name names, but at the
time I didn’t know so many other people (including other media) felt the same. So, I’ll say it now: Fuck Marcy
Polanco. She needs to be fired from BET.
I’m not speaking to one person in particular, but I’d like
to give a shout out to the magazines that go through
each issue of OZONE and call all our advertisers trying
to get money out of them. Let me give you a hint when
it comes to advertising solicitation: we don’t call people
and ask them for money. They call us. If your shit was as
hot as ours, they’d call you too.
I was the quiet smart kid in school, like, borderline nerdy. Used to sell the test answers for
$5. Back then, they didn’t listen to me, now I’m hot they - well, you know the rest. I get calls
at all hours of the day (and night) that go like this: “Hey JB! This is [insert name of person
I don’t know] with [insert incredibly stupid name of a record label I’ve never heard of]. We
met at [insert event I don’t remember]. We want you to do an interview with [insert name of
artist I’ve never heard of].”
A magazine by itself cannot create a superstar. If you don’t believe me, look at Benzino. A
magazine is a reflection of the community. If you’re hot, we’ll come find you. Simple as that.
Of course, you should stay accessible, but harassing editors generally doesn’t work.
Or, you could try the Gucci Mane method for free publicity: diss a rival rapper, then kill anyone
who comes after you. Of course, there are bothersome side effects like murder warrants you
might have to deal with. But, your label and publicist will be happy as hell when they bond
you out on your album release date!
Kids, don’t try that at home.
It’s a scary thought to think that I have some sort of power. In fact, I learned this month that
I have more power than I thought. Apparently, I single-handedly got an entire security team
fired and my entire staff trespassed from a club I haven’t even been to since last year. You
see how we have like, forty million pictures in each issue, right? There was one photo in last
month’s issue of a few rappers taken at a well-known Orlando nightclub. One of them was
pointing a gun directly at the camera. Anyway, apparently the club owner wasn’t too happy
about the negative publicity generated from the image, and shit hit the fan.
Hey, Elliott at XXL! I know you see OZONE coming up strong! I know you’re running out of shit
to write about too, now that your Destroy The Source mission is nearly complete. Time to play
defense. Say hi to G-Unit for me. Ha! But pay no attention, I’m just talkin’ shit cause y’all
never send me any damn freelance work. At least VIBE appreciates me.
Hey! It’s finally June. Happy birthday to me. By the time you read this, I’ll be 24. I’ve been
waiting six months to accurately quote T.I.’s “Tha King”:
I’m [queen] of the South but there’s fifty states
I’m gon’ spread out and eliminate who’s in the way
I’m 24 today, give me ‘til I’m 28
I’ll be ruler of all that I survey, and not just in the States
- Julia Beverly ([email protected])
Guilty pleasures: 50 Cent “Just A Lil Bit” &
Nick Cannon f/ Anthony Hamilton “Can I Live”
Young Jeezy f/ Jazze Pha “Then What”
Smilez & Southstar “Found Out”
Brooke Valentine f/ Miss B & Remy “Girlfight (remix)”
Gucci Mane f/ Mac Bre-Z “Go Head”
Frayser Boy f/ Mike Jones & Paul Wall “I Got Dat Drank”
Memphis Bleek f/ Swizz Beatz “It’s Like That”
David Banner “Play”
Young Cash “In My Chevy”
Joss Stone “Spoiled”
Young Jeezy “Street N*ggas”
Fats f/ Maceo “Nextel Chirp”
Mike Jones “Back Then”
01: Wyclef and Buggah @ a Florida
Marlins’ game (Miami, FL)
02: Trick Daddy and David Banner @
Springfest (Miami, FL)
03: Eddie DeVille, Chingo Bling,
and friends reppin’ OZONE on
the set of Paul Wall’s “Sittin’
Sideways” (Houston, TX)
04: Young Cash and Brisco @
Crobar (Miami, FL)
05: Teach, K-Foxx, and M-Dot
at 99 Jamz (Miami, FL)
06: B5 reppin’ OZONE @
07: Prince Markie Dee, Nina
Chantale, and Trick Daddy
(Miami, FL)
08: Chris of the 727 Boys
and Webbie reppin’ OZONE
@ the Underground
(Tampa, FL)
09: KC, Rashad Tyler, and
Slim Goodye @ Club Paris
(Orlando, FL)
10: LaLa and Slim Thug @
11: Boy Wonder and Mr.
Bigg Time @ Club Troy
for the Hittmen DJ’s
Showcase (Miami, FL)
12: Noreaga showing
off his personalized
t-shirt @ House of Blues
(Orlando, FL)
13: Big Gee of Boyz N
Da Hood and DJ Chill
reppin’ OZONE @ Studio 7303 (Houston, TX)
14: Ted Lucas and
Pitbull (Miami, FL)
15: Bigalow, Reese, &
P Boy Stone reppin’
OZONE @ Junkyard 2
(Canton, MS)
16: Three 6 Mafia and
Frayser Boy on the set
of “I Got Dat Drank”
(Houston, TX)
17: Trick Daddy, Jae
Millz, and Chingy @
18: Mike Jones teaches
some white folks how
to sip “dat drank” on
the set of Frayser Boy’s
video (Houston, TX)
19: Mob B and the Lake
Road Boys reppin’ OZONE
(Orlando, FL)
20: TJ Chapman, Gorilla
Tek, and T-Pain @ Club
Troy (Miami, FL)
21: Roy Jones Jr. and Wally
Sparks reppin’ OZONE...
and what is going on behind
them??? (Chattanooga, TN)
Photo Credits:
Carmen Davis: #21
J Lash: #07,14
Julia Beverly: #02,03,04,05,
10,11,15,16,17,18,19,20
Keadron Smith: #13
KG Mosley: #08
Malik Abdul: #06,09
On Point: #01
Spiff: #12
12
OZONE JUNE 2005
01: Brooke Valentine and Amerie @
02: The Outlawz reppin’ OZONE @
their release party (Atlanta, GA)
03: UTP reppin’ OZONE @ Southern
University’s Springfest (Baton
Rouge, LA)
04: JC, DJ Dirty, and Felisha
LeBlanc reppin’ OZONE on the
set of Frayser Boy’s “I Got Dat
Drank” (Houston, TX)
05: Mike Jones shooting pool
during lunch break of Frayser
Boy’s video (Houston, TX)
06: Kevin Black and Marques
Houston on South Beach
(Miami, FL)
07: Pat Nix, DJ Wal-Gee
and Willie Fischer @ Club
Paris (Orlando, FL)
08: Smilez and Southstar
reppin’ OZONE @ the Blue
Room (Orlando, FL)
09: Aziattik Black and
Marcus. @ Springfest
(Miami, FL)
10: Freeway and Peedi
Crakk performing @
Tabu for Big Earl’s Birthday Bash (Orlando, FL)
11: TJ Chapman and
Kaspa @ Club Troy
(Miami, FL)
12: Tha Union reppin’
OZONE on South Beach
(Miami, FL)
13: Money Mark and DJ
Kool Aid @ Perfect Rack
(Houston, TX)
14: Bedo and KC @
House of Blues (Orlando, FL)
15: Grandaddy Souf
and Frayser Boy @
his “I Got Dat Drank”
video shoot (Houston,
TX)
16: Tank and fans (Miami, FL)
17: P$C’s Big Kuntry,
Memphis Bleek, Roland
Powell, and P$C’s Mac
Boney @ Springfest
(Miami, FL)
18: Butta Smoove, Chill
Will, Freeway, and Peedi
Crakk by the OZONE
truck (Orlando, FL)
19: Three 6 Mafia’s DJ
Paul, Jim Jones, and Juicy
J @ Paul Wall’s “Sittin’
Sideways” video shoot
(Houston, TX)
20: DJ Doc, Aziattik Black,
and Sonic @ Junkyard 2
(Canton, MS)
21: Xzibit, Ras Kass, and Trick
Daddy (Miami, FL)
Photo Credits:
Dove: #01
Iisha Hillmon: #02
J Lash: #06,16,21
12,13,15,17,19,20
King Yella: #03
Malik Abdul: #07,08,10,18
Spiff: #14
14
OZONE JUNE 2005
Disclaimer: These interviews are anonymous,
so we cannot verify if they are true or not. All
details (cities, club names, hotel names) have
been removed. These stories do not necessarily represent the opinions of OZONE Magazine.
These stories did not necessarily occur recently, so if you are currently seeing one of these
fine gentlemen, no need to curse him out.
These stories are from different women.
So it sounds like there was a lot of
foreplay.
Well, we were really rushed because
they were leaving to go to the next
state, and I was on my way [back home].
So, during that initial encounter, there
was some foreplay. The actual conversation started the night before when it
was time to leave the afterparty. We had
planned to hook up the night before but
kinda lost track of each other. So we talked
about the fact that the night before was basically like a missed opportunity.
If you have a celebrity confession, send an
email to [email protected] and we
will reply with a phone number where you can
call anonymously to be interviewed.
NELLY:
How did you meet Nelly?
I have a friend who’s a fashion stylist. She does
some work in the music industry, and I was
working with her and went with her on some
business trips. She was working with some
people that were associated with a tour Nelly
was on.
Basically you met him through work.
Yeah, more or less. It was actually at an afterparty when we first met. We’d went to the
concert and I met Nelly at the afterparty.
You don’t have to give a specific date, but
how recent was it when you met?
Several years ago.
When you met was it a friendly vibe or sexual?
It was definitely a
friendly thing, but we
were really attracted
to each other. I wasn’t
sure if I wanted to go
there. We communicated for the next few
weeks and I continued
to go with my friend to various cities. Every
time I was at a show or an afterparty, we were
just going back and forth on a friendly basis.
kinda poked me, like, “Girl, you better go get
your man!” I went to his room just to say bye
and we ended up sleeping together.
The girl in our last groupie confession about
Nelly didn’t have a good experience with
him.
My experience is completely contradictory to
what she said, because I didn’t find that to be
true. As a person, he’s incredibly charming.
Every other word is “sweetheart.” I found him
to be really personable and respectful. To me,
he’s a good person, and the sex was excellent.
The other girl said he had a small dick.
That’s the one part of her story that was semi-
Did he have a girlfriend at the time? Did you
talk about stuff like that?
We talked about my career goals, and a little
bit of his background. He’d tell me about life
on the road or whatever. At the time he was
popular, but he wasn’t as popular as he is now.
He was kinda leery of some of the things that
came along with being famous. At the time I
was working on my degree and he thought it
was really good that I was in college. We talked
about previous jobs he’d had and his background playing baseball. Getting into music
was basically like an accident for him.
Do you still see him?
I’ve seen him from time to time, and sometimes we do have sex. We’re basically friends
with benefits.
What’s his situation with Ashanti?
From my understanding of the situation, they
were trying to make a
relationship work but
it didn’t seem like it
was serious enough
for him to stop sleeping with other people.
I probably shouldn’t
have even said that,
though. From what I know, he cares about her.
“[Nelly] was some of the best sex I’ve ever experienced
in my life, to be honest...He’s a talker. He asks a lot of
questions and talks throughout the whole process.”
Why were you hesitant to “go there”?
I don’t know. I was just thinking it was bad,
and I probably shouldn’t. Because of how I was
raised, I guess.
You didn’t want to sleep with him because he
was a rapper?
Well, it wasn’t so much because he was a rapper. It was mostly because we just didn’t know
each other that well.
Did he tell you why he was attracted to you?
We talked about it at a later date, as far as
what the initial attraction was. Part of it was
just how I look. Later on he told me that it was
because I wasn’t really chasing him.
Did you see a lot of girls chasing him?
Definitely, yeah.
At what point did it become sexual?
A few weeks after we initially met, he had
another concert date and we were flirting at
the afterparty. We were staying in the same
hotel, and everybody was up late. I got back
late and eventually just went to sleep. The
next morning me and my friend were saying goodbye to everybody from the tour.
We’d gotten really familiar with most of
the people on the tour, and the artists
knew who we were. I had the chance to
go say good bye to Nelly and my friend
accurate. The size isn’t that great. It’s short and
wide. Maybe like six inches. It’s wide, though,
so maybe it looks shorter than it is. I think she
was exaggerating a little bit, but yeah, I wasn’t
impressed by his size either.
So the sex was good?
It was some of the best I’ve ever experienced
in my life, to be honest. He’s really considerate. He’s a talker. He asks a lot of questions and
talks throughout the whole process. He’s very
considerate and concerned with your feelings.
What kinds of questions did he ask?
Before he did anything, he’d ask, “Is it okay if I
do this? Can I touch you there? Do you like this?”
Stuff like that. He asked me, “Are you gonna
cum? How can I make you cum?” He’s definitely
a talker throughout.
Since it was a good experience, did you wish
you’d slept with him sooner?
No, I was glad that I waited so long. I think the
fact that we did wait so long was part of the
reason that it even occurred, like, that was part
of the reason he was attracted to me. If I had to
do that over, I probably wouldn’t change it.
Do you think he asked questions like that to
protect himself from any false accusations?
You know, make sure you wanted the same
thing he wanted?
Yeah, I think part of it was self-preservation,
but some of the questions went above and beyond that. I think his nature is just that he likes
to talk during sex.
Have you slept with any other rappers besides Nelly?
No. This was an exception for me. When I met
him, I knew who he was, but I definitely wasn’t
a fan of his. I had never purchased a Nelly CD.
I was just attracted to him physically, because
he’s my type. I’ve been approached by other
rappers, but I definitely don’t plan on sleeping with them. I don’t agree with sleeping with
every famous person or entertainer that you
meet, but I guess some people might read this
story and consider me to be a groupie.
Would you be offended if someone called you
a groupie?
I don’t think I’d be offended, but I wouldn’t
agree with them. A groupie is a person who
pursues someone for the sole reason of their
fame. I don’t think that describes me. I’m not
looking for anybody’s money. I have an established career and a college degree, so I’m not
out here sleeping with rappers to get money.
If the sex was good and y’all were friends,
why not try to develop a relationship?
I know who he is and I know that I could never
really try to have a one-on-one relationship
with a rapper who gets panties thrown at him
on a daily basis. A man is only as faithful as
his options, and he’s got plenty of options. If
I’m gonna call somebody my man, I’d like to
be able to spend time with them more often.
I didn’t go into it thinking he was gonna be my
future husband.
OZONE MAY 2005
15
01: Gotti and Game @ House of Blues
(Orlando, FL)
02: T-Pain and Teddy T @ Club Troy
for the Hittmen DJ’s showcase
(Miami, FL)
03: Doc, TJ Chapman, and H Vidal
@ Manilla (Tampa, FL)
04: Slim Thug riding in style on
the set of the “I Ain’t Heard of
That” remix video (Houston,
TX)
05: Video models reppin’
OZONE on the set of DMX’s
“Pump Ya Fist” (Miami, FL)
06: Tampa Tony and Plies @
07: DJ Khaled, Ebony Eyez
and David Banner @ Springfest (Miami, FL)
08: Jody Breeze reading
OZONE (Tampa, FL)
09: Lil Wyte and Paul Wall
on the set of his “Sittin’
Sideways” video shoot
(Houston, TX)
10: Legend the Great
and D-Rocc @ Plush (St.
Louis, MO)
11: H Vidal and Tori
Alamaze (Tampa, FL)
12: Wally Sparks and
Spike Lee (Chattanooga, TN)
13: Acafool and Proof
@ Ludacris’ concert
(Tampa, FL)
14: Khia reppin’ OZONE
@ Springfest (Miami,
FL)
15: Trina and friends
(Miami, FL)
16: Unique and LucDuc @ Club Troy for the
Hittmen DJ’s showcase
(Miami, FL)
17: Boyz N Da Hood
and Miss T in the
French Quarter (New
Orleans, LA)
18: John Tucker, Paul
Wall, Frayser Boy, and
Mike Jones on the set of
“I Got Dat Drank” (Houston, TX)
19: Raekwon and Bizmarkie @ Mansion (Miami,
FL)
20: P. DIddy, Rob Love,
and Smitty @ Crobar
(Miami, FL)
21: Benz and Boo da Boss
Playa @ Junkyard 2 (Canton, MS)
Photo Credits:
H Vidal: #03,11
JC: #10
J Lash: #15
09,16,18,20,21
KG Mosley: #08,13
Malik Abdul: #05,14
Marcus Jethro: #17
Sophia Jones: #19
Spiff: #01
Wally Sparks: #12
16
OZONE JUNE 2005
You guys have a new album coming out?
Kane: (rapping) I got a ten-foot pole that’ll go
in yo’ hole / Take yo’ soul, make nut come out
yo’ nose / Ha, ha, ha, fall all on yo’ clothes,
bitch / Now that I got you in the bed, I’m gon’
pull yo’ hair / Snatch yo’ ass up out of here,
I’m gon’ pull yo’ hair.
Interesting.
Kane: Me and D-Roc got something for these
niggas. For every nigga, I’m gonna spit a rap
on y’all cause I’m gonna tell y’all that. Gangsta like Frank Nitty, don’t want the keys to
my city like P Diddy / I just wanna rep for the
neighborhood / So when you slide through my
city I can always keep the word that the flavor good / Now I don’t sell this and I don’t sell
that / But I dwell where them boys get them
cell cases at / To a thug that might be thinkin’
young grip ain’t street / You ain’t gonna up
your ranking if you worryin’ bout me / Your
mind on the decline, your line on thin / If
you don’t find something to do wit’ ya time
you won’t win / I ain’t tellin’ y’all fuck niggas again / Y’all can’t fuck with the Ying Yang
Twins / They hated on me before I got a grip
/ I got it now but still they don’t give a fuck
/ I’ll be a fool to think that y’all like me / I
bet it’s some niggas that don’t know me that
wanna fight me / Ain’t too many niggas that
can rap that excite me / A lot of these niggas
walk around here tryin’ to bite me / You can’t
recite me and you might not like me but don’t
dislike it, get like it BITCH!
D-Roc: Yeah, what he said.
So now that we’ve all heard “Wait,” we are
waiting to hear what your album is gonna
sound like.
D-Roc: It’s gonna sound like what he just said.
Our album is called U.S.A.: United States of
Atlanta. It’s gonna explain that you better
understand Atlanta after you hear this album. We made an album for everybody that
thinks Atlanta is just about crunk music. It’s
not. You’ve got people that go to church in
Atlanta, people that work in Atlanta, people
that sell dope in Atlanta, you got skrippers in
Atlanta, you got bums in Atlanta. Atlanta is
not just crunk, but still, people been getting
crunk in Atlanta since I was zero years old.
Twenty-six years I’ve been getting crunk in Atlanta. Crunk has been the way of Atlanta since
Atlanta been Atlanta.
Kane: I don’t consider crunk to be a movement. I just consider the East and the West
coast and then there’s the South, cause we
wasn’t making enough noise to be like them.
So now life goes in a full circle.
D-Roc: HANNNNNNNNNH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kane: Life don’t go in a boomerang.
Kane: So now it’s time for the third coast to
get they fair shot.
Kane: Cause the East coast and the West coast
been controllin’ the game since it started.
Kane: The third coast in there now. Don’t
get mad. We got 63% of the game.
Kane: And it ain’t because we fake.
Kane: Like my homie Jeezy says: real
talk, nigga!
What other types of songs do you
have on there besides the “intimate
club music” songs like “Wait” and
(l to r): Kane and D-Roc
“Pull Yo’ Hair”?
D-Roc: Everything. We got a gospel song on the
album, an Al Green remake.
Kane: We got a war song on the album for the
soldiers called “Ghetto Classy.”
D-Roc: We got a song called “Live Again” with
Maroon 5. That’s for the strippers that are tired
of working at the strip club?
Kane: Me and my brother wrote the song. I wrote
the hook and Maroon 5 sunt it. I’m just lettin’
you know before it get out. We wrote that song.
You want me to sing the hook for you?
Sure.
Kane: She stuff off in this lil’ room (room) / Wit’
nothin’ else to hold on to (to) / Her life is in a
lil’ box (box) / She wondering, will it ever stop?
(stop) / Life of a stripper / I’m so sick and I’m
so tired of this club / I keep crying every night
cause the years pass me by / I give up, I’m all
in / My whole life is full of sin / This road is a
dead end / I wanna live again. But it sound like
Maroon 5 wrote it. I told my momma, I was supposed to be a white boy (laughing). Hey, since
this is for OZONE, since I did the hook I’m gonna
go ahead and do the rap.
D-Roc: This is live and direct.
Kane: From the nipple to the bottle, never satisfied / But the money got you doin’ things to
mess up your pride / But you really just tryin’
to get by / Every day you lookin’ up in the sky
/ Sometimes shit gets so hard it really have
you bothered / First you sigh, then you cry
up a whole puddle of water / It seem like shit
ain’t never gonna end / Merry-go-rounds turn to
whirlwinds / Wait ‘til it turns into a hurricane /
If you see joy, you got to see pain / Shit in the
world ain’t ever gonna change / Even when you
die, it’ll be the same / You ain’t lookin’ at my
circumstance / Jobs ain’t callin’ so you forced to
dance / Hopin’ and prayin’ for a second chance
/ Just wanna put back on yo’ pants / Walk out
the club and throw up yo’ hands / Tired of being disrespected by a man / Sayin’ this shit ain’t
right for you / A nigga been yellin’ all night for
you / Gotta do what’s best for you / Walk up to
the club and tell ‘em YOU’RE THROUGH!
What inspired you to cut your hair off, DRoc?
Kane: He wanna be the Ying, and I’m gonna stay
the Yang.
D-Roc: Nah, I cut my hair, cause, don’t I look
cute? (laughing) Nah, cause I wanted to go
on more of a business look. Don’t I look cute
though?
You’re going for a different look and a different sound this time around?
D-Roc: Yeah, yeah, yeah, cause you gonna see a
lot of business comin’ out of Ying Yang this year
like HANNNNNNNNNH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our business
gonna be on point like HANNNNNNNNNH!!!!!
What kind of business ventures do you have
coming up?
D-Roc: Everything! Everything I put my hands
on. I’m tryin’ to make it go gold. I might open
up a soul food restaurant. I might open up a
Laundromat. Hey, I might do anything. Ying
Yang gonna venture off this year. Just be on the
look out. I might make my own car and call it
Yingsu.
Who else is featured on the album besides
Maroon 5?
D-Roc: Man, you got me on the album, and my
brother on the album (laughing). Nah, we got
Mike Jones on the album, Lil Jon, Teedra Moses, Pitbull, Jacki-O, Anthony Hamilton. United
States of Atlanta in stores June 28th. Bet when
you buy our album you gon’ be satisfied. I ain’t
even got a copy of the album yet. I been waiting for a copy my damn self. My boss man won’t
give it to me, but when he do, ain’t nobody
gonna know.
Kane: We puttin’ it down for our folk at OZONE
as only we can. It’s the Ying Yang Twins, we
doin’ a lot of things so we got to cut the time
short. So now it’s time to say goodbye / To all
our OZONE friends / Thank you from D-Roc
and Kane / And we make the Ying Yang Twins
/ Gone!
- Interview and photos by Julia Beverly
OZONE JUNE 2005
17
01: Ray J, former boxing champ Ray
Bell, and Roy Jones Jr. @ Power 94’s
celebrity bball game (Chattanooga,
TN)
02: Cool Runnings and the Hittmen
DJs @ BCR (Daytona Beach, FL)
03: T-Pain and Akon @ Springfest
(Miami, FL)
04: Lil Keith, DJ Chill, and Mike
Deazel (Houston, TX)
05: Bizmarkie, Too Short, and
Freestyle Steve @ Mansion
(Miami, FL)
06: DJ Chill and X-Trct (Houston, TX)
07: The Unusual Suspects’
Big D and Jim Jonsin reppin’
(Miami, FL)
08: O-Eazy and Butta
Smoove reppin’ for the
OZONE truck (Orlando,
FL)
09: DJ Laz and Pitbull at
the Bad Boy Latino welcoming party (Miami, FL)
10: Faith Evans reppin’
OZONE @ Springfest
(Miami, FL)
11: Reese and Boo da
Boss Playa reppin’
OZONE @ Junkyard 2
(Canton, MS)
12: On the set of Paul
Wall’s video shoot for
“Sittin’ Sideways”
(Houston, TX)
13: Flava Flav @ Club
Empire (Tampa, FL)
14: Mike Jones fans
waiting for autographs
(Houston, TX)
15: Paul Wall and Juicy
J reppin’ for that sizzurp (Houston, TX)
16: Michael Watts, Mike
Jones, and Coach @
17: 112 and David
Banner @ the Sheraton
(Miami, FL)
18: Roc-A-Fella’s Peedi
Crakk, Young Gunz,
Tierra Marie, Freeway,
and Memphis Bleek @ 99
Jamz (Miami, FL)
19: Stay Fresh, TJ
Chapman, Felisha Foxx,
Gorilla Tek, T-Pain, and
the Nappy Headz @ Club
Troy for the Hittmen DJ’s
showcase (Miami, FL)
20: Trick Daddy and
Memphis Bleek @ Springfest
(Miami, FL)
21: Stone, UTP, PartnersN-Crime, and Juvenile @
Firestone (Orlando, FL)
Photo Credits:
Carmen Davis: #01
J Lash: #09,17
12,14,15,16,18,19,20
Keadron Smith: #06
Malik Abdul: #08,10
Sandman: #13
Shoeb Malik: #02
Sophia Jones: #05,21
18
OZONE JUNE 2005
When did you start rapping?
Oh, I got into rap when I was like ten. I started writin’, rappin’, you know, and once I was
about 14, I was hot. I’m 21 now.
Was that when you hooked up with Trill?
I was already like the hottest in my city before
I was with Trill because I was with C-Loc and
the Concentration Camp. C-Loc had gotten in
a little trouble, and Trill came and snatched
me up.
C-Loc is back out now, right?
Yeah, we just did another song together called
“Take A Picture.”
Are you gonna be doing another project
with him then?
Nah, I’m loyal to Trill now, I just did it for him
when he came home because he put me in
the game.
And you ran into a similar situation with
Trill, because Pimp C got locked up.
Yeah, but our CEOs, Mel and Turk, they had
to step up.
Isn’t Pimp C supposed to be coming home
soon?
Yeah, he get out at the end of the year.
Do you think that’s gonna be a big boost for
your label? Do you plan on recording with
him?
Yeah, as soon as Pimp come home, we gonna
go back to the studio right off top.
Do you think that people like C-Loc and
Pimp C get the credit they deserve on a national level?
Yeah, in certain people’s eyes they get credit,
but most people don’t know. It wasn’t like it
was supposed to be. But that’s why they got
me now. I’m taking it to that level. I’m gonna
take over that.
When is your next album coming out?
It’s coming out August 5th. It’s called Boosie
Bad Ass.
What was the situation with Mr. Magic and
Roy Jones Jr.? You and Magic had that song
called “I Smoke, I Drank,” and Roy took you
off the song and put it out nationally and it
blew up.
I guess Roy Jones is the boss or whatever. They
just took me off the song. It wasn’t no big
deal, though.
So you’re cool with Magic now?
Yeah, we straight. It ain’t no beef or nothing.
That wasn’t his call, you know.
I heard you were on the radio talking about
how you were gonna sue Roy.
Nah, man, I’m too real to sue somebody. I
ain’t gonna sue nobody. I got people that owe
me right now, but I ain’t gonna sue them for
a couple G’s. I’m already getting money like
that.
So when you first came out you were a
solo artist?
Yeah I was the first solo artist on Trill. I
put out my first album on Trill, it was the
For My Thugs CD. Then after that, me
and Webbie came with that Gangsta
Muzik and people started really liking Webbie too. Us together, it kinda
blowed us up even more. But we solo artists,
though, you know.
Do you think people were confused which
songs were yours and which were Webbie’s?
Yeah, I really think so. You know, I think they
was confused. But we on the big screen now, so
they know.
Do you plan on putting any more albums out
together?
We dropping his album in July, you know, and
my album in August. Then we’re gonna drop Trill
Family Volume One, kinda like Cash Money Millionaires. That’s how we’re gonna come with
that.
lum, do you think you’ll have to switch up
your style yo sound a little more commercial
or radio-friendly?
It’s still gonna be all the way gutter. I got a
couple songs on there for the ladies, four or
five songs about the struggle and the hustle,
four or five songs about the headbussin’. Every
album I drop, you can just put it in and let it
drop. That’s why they be waiting so anxiously
for me to drop.
Do you plan on putting out a mixtape or anything ahead of time to promote your album?
I might put out that Bad Ass Holdup. I don’t
know, it depends on how good my boy Webbie’s
album is doing.
Who produced most of your album? Your inhouse producer Mouse?
Yeah, Mouse. It’s mostly my in-house dude. You
know, we probably gonna be getting some more
tracks from Mannie Fresh.
Is there tension between you and Webbie?
Nah. We got our differences, but you know,
that’s what makes us raw. Everybody got our
differences. Webbie, he’s the wild type. I’m
laid-back, big dawg status. Webbie is wild.
Who else is featured on the album?
Mostly just Webbie, and I’ll probably put Camron
and Juelz Santana on there. Maybe Joey Crack
too, I don’t know yet.
Since you’ve gotten your deal with Asylum,
did you make any major purchases? Any houses or cars?
I got a couple cars. I got a 745 Beemer, I got
that new Magnum, I got that new Monte Carlo,
that race car. I got a couple Cadillacs.
You’ve got some East coast dudes on there,
trying to switch it up a little bit.
Yeah, I’m trying to get that New York market,
that Cali market. I might do something with Mya.
It’s jumping off right now. I just did the video
for “Ain’t Got Nothing,” me, David Banner, and
Magic. That’s hot right now, you know?
Do you think you and Webbie are gonna be the
ones to put Baton Rouge on the map?
Yeah, every hood that we go through, they love
us. We got real love, you know what I’m sayin’?
We’ve got our music on a national level. We sellin’ 45,000, shit, we got 10,000 CDs at a time with
40 states behind us. We gonna take it to that
level, you know? We gonna be like Pac and Biggie
like some of that shit.
Now that Trill has signed a label deal with Asy-
So you’re the man in Baton Rouge.
Yeah, I been the man in Baton Rouge since I was
like 15, since I was in C-Loc’s camp. As soon as
they heard me, I was hot. We kept dropping albums. I been the man, they love me in my city.
Everybody that knows me knows I’m not telling
no lies. They 100% behind me.
Is there anything else you want to say?
Free Mystikal. Rest in peace Lil Ivey and my
grandmother, she kept me focused. They always told me I was gonna be a good rapper. And
my album Boosie Bad Ass comes out August 5th,
the first single is “Super Fly” and the second
single is “Fresh Cut.”
- Julia Beverly (photo: King Yella)
OZONE JUNE 2005
19
01: Trina, Tigger, and DJ Khaled
(Miami, FL)
02: Models reppin’ OZONE (Miami,
FL)
03: Indio, Da Sick One, and Big
Earl @ Tabu for his birthday bash
(Orlando, FL)
04: Janky, Sherry, and Aziattik
Black @ Junkyard 2 (Canton,
MS)
05: Barry from the movie Life,
Juicy J, and Darius McCrary
from Family Matters on the
set of Frayser Boy’s “I Got
Dat Drank” (Houston, TX)
06: Chill Will, Freeway,
and Peedi Crakk @ Tabu for
Big Earl’s birthday bash
(Orlando, FL)
07: Sean Paul of the
YoungBloodz and Oozie @
08: Mike Jones never
stops promoting (Houston, TX)
09: Twisted Black
performing @ Club Troy
for the Hittmen DJ’s
showcase (Miami, FL)
10: 8Ball reppin’ OZONE
@ Springfest (Miami,
FL)
11: Kristi Jordan and
Troy Marshall reppin’
(Miami, FL)
12: DJ Epps reppin’
OZONE @ Club 112
for his birthday party
(Miami, FL)
13: Brian McKnight and
friends on Orange Ave.
(Orlando, FL)
14: Gaby Acevedo and
David Banner @ Springfest (Miami, FL)
15: Felisha Foxx and
Young Cash reppin’
OZONE @ Club Troy
(Miami, FL)
16: Greg Street and DJ
Jelly @ the Ying Yang
Twins’ press junket
(Atlanta, GA)
17: Camron, Jigga JT,
and Juelz Santana (New
Orleans, LA)
18: John Tucker, Paul
Wall, and Three 6 Mafia
on the set of “Sittin’ Sideways” (Houston, TX)
19: Reppin’ OZONE on the
set of Paul Wall’s “Sittin’
20: Warner Bros. staff
(Miami, FL)
21: Luc-Duc, Paul Wall, and
Teddy T @ Konnections (Houston, TX)
Photo Credits:
Bogan: #02
J Lash: #01,20
11,14,15,16,18,19,21
Keadron Smith: #08
Malik Abdul: #03,10,12,13
Marcus Jethro: #17
Spiff: #06
20
OZONE JUNE 2005
Talk about your new compilation, Young,
Fly & Flashy, Vol. I.
It’s just letting everybody know that we are
continuing what So So Def has always been.
We live off young, new niggas that’s flashy and
fly. TYoung, fly and flashy is just the motto of
So So Def. From day one, that’s how I came
in. “Money Ain’t A Thing.” The whole overall
thing was to put people in that mentality. So
So Def is going to continue no matter what
home we’re in. So to start off our new relationship with Virgin and as our new home, why
not put this out, let everybody see the new
artists? So the Afroman continues to shine.
That’s the mindset of it, but it got more indepth as I started looking at it, because at
first I was coming with new artists off the gate
like my man Young Capone. But if I come out
with a new artist that nobody knows, it’s going
to be a little harder to do than to come with
an established artist. And I was looking around
for the established artist and I couldn’t find
one, and then I looked in the mirror and the
established artist happened to be me. So I
took out a record, “Gotta Getcha,” that I did
for my album The Green Light that was supposed to come out through Arista. I said, This
record is smoking. It should have been came
out. I made this the first single of Young, Fly
& Flashy Vol. I and I put myself back on the
block as an artist.
You’ve got several new artists, like Young
Capone, T. Waters, Slim. What was it about
these artists that made you sign them?
Everybody came to me individually, as me
looking for my gang. What can you bring to
the gang? You never have enough guns. T. Waters was an artist whose cousin was pushing
him heavy at Magic City. I’d see his cousin
and he’d say I should listen. I never listened.
I never listen to CDs that people give me at
strip clubs because nine times out of ten it
ain’t no shit that you want to hear anyway.
I would take the CD but never put it in. But
if you persistent like that, eventually I’m going to check you out. He went over the top.
He was really persistent. Every week. I finally
put the CD in and I heard this kid’s voice, and
I’m like, where he from? I couldn’t imagine he
was from Atlanta the way he sounded. Then I
started hearing a lot of country slang as well
as a lot of up-top slang. Right now, to me 50
Cent sound like a New York country dude. I
felt like, this is what the industry’s missing.
That’s what Biggie had. He had the connection
between the South and New York. He had that
down pat. He spoke the same words that MJG
& Eightball was talking but he was still from
Brooklyn. I signed T. Waters. Young Capone is
a little more lyrical than the average crunk
artist. Most crunk artists just yell and scream
at you. Capone is the epitome of young, fly
and flashy. He doesn’t have a record deal and
he’s popping shit about how fly he was and
how he’d take your girl. I liked it. It spoke to
me as young, fly and flashy. He fit that gang.
Slim was a young artist from Queens that I
brought to Atlanta. He got the flair of the
South with the dialect of New York.
Do you have a lot more responsibility as
head of Urban Music at Virgin?
A lot of new responsibility. You got to
watch everybody. You got to watch your
whole staff and make sure they doing
they job. You got to stay on top of
them. You got to watch your numbers,
the money you’re spending. As an en-
trepreneur, I just rolled reckless. Now I got a job
and I got to make sure I keep everybody in line
as well as myself.
How did you get the position at Virgin?
It came from shopping around a deal for me,
looking for places to go. I wanted a position like
this. I wanted to be the President or CEO of one
of these companies. That was my goal. I was
looking to be more in control. I feel like I bring
a lot more to the table than just making records
and giving some advice. I never got a shot to
show people.
What are some of the lessons you’ve learned
over the years in this business?
Business is business. That’s the biggest one.
That’s a lesson that you got to really understand.
That’s like shooting someone in cold blood. I had
a friend named Mohammed Bell, Kool’s son from
Kool & The Gang. Me and his son were best of
friends and he had an artist named ROCC that
was signed to So So Def before. ROCC was a great
artist but we hit a snag in the business side. We
weren’t on the same page with his records.
When I left Columbia, I left that artist with
them. It was all business. I can’t snag my life for
something that don’t work for us. It wasn’t like I
cutthroat him. Business is business. I don’t make
money unless I put out product that sells. A lot
of people want you to put out records just to
put them out. “That’s my man, put him out. You
my man.” There’s guilt when you have to drop
somebody, but it’s business. Hopefully, you can
get past it. Anybody that’s young, trying to be an
executive, you have to understand that.
How do you keep your business and personal
lives separate?
I’m learning how to leave my pagers off, and turn
my phones off. In life, every room has a door. I
look at it like the Matrix going down the hallway.
If you open the door and bring your phone in
there, you’re bringing all the other shit that goes
along with the phone in there, into your house.
And the next thing you know, it’s all going to be
in your house. And it’s going to turn your private
life into, it’s all going to be meshed together.
You got to turn your cell off. You got to learn
to break it down. A lot of people look at me
strange, but you have to. At this point, my girlfriend is from the most famous black family in
music and people are always trying to be in her
business as much as possible whether because
of her brother or brothers. And you can never
tell who’s there for the right reasons. When it
comes to my private life, I just shut everything
down.
What do you say to people who say that
Southern hip-hop is a fad?
I don’t know what that means. What’s the definition of a fad? A fad is only 2-3 years, to me.
I made Kris Kross records in ’92. It’s 2005 right
now. That’s 13 years. That’s no fad. This is here
to stay. The kids in the South, they don’t care.
This is good music. This is what they want to
hear. If you go to the South, they don’t care
about 50 Cent being #1. They want to hear
some of that country music. They don’t care if
Usher sold eight million records. So what? The
Loretta Twins sold 20 million. Country music
has its own world. That’s how Atlanta’s going
to be in a minute. You go to Nashville and they
got their own publishing companies. I feel we
should have our own publishing companies in
Atlanta. This city is musical. I’m not going to
stop until I see that it’s like that. Until everyone in the world understands that Southern music is a non-stopping movement and Atlanta is
the new Motown.
You have a three-year contract with Virgin, so
what’s your three-year plan?
My plan is to make Virgin become hot as far as
culture and music. Now, people want to work
for Virgin. Artists want to sign to Virgin. That’s
something that wasn’t going on before I came.
People was telling me, “You gonna ruin your
career [going with Virgin].” Now I’m sitting in
my office, niggas trying to get jobs. Sending me
demos. So Virgin is a place that people want to
be because of me. Now I just got to sell some
records.
OZONE JUNE 2005
21
Not too many rappers have a story like Rich
Boy. After getting his song played on a local radio station in his hometown of Mobile,
Alabama, Rich Boy met up with Polow of Jim
Crow and was soon signed to Interscope.
Currently working on his debut album, he’s
been in the studio with Kanye West, Timbaland, Jazze Pha and Needlz. And he’s only
21.
In addition to music, his resume also boasts
a short stint at Tuskegee University studying
mechanical engineering. In addition to being a rapper, Rich Boy also makes beats. As
a young producer, Roy Jones Jr. was one of
his clients. Ready to follow in the footsteps
of his influences: UGK, 8Ball & MJG, South
Circle and Crime Boss, Rich Boy is ready to
let the world know that Alabama rappers got
game too.
What’s the hip-hop scene like in Mobile, Alabama?
It’s more of a local scene, local artists. Everybody watches 106th & Park. Everywhere you
go, you’ve got someone trying to make it. I’ve
been rapping for two years. I was trying to
make it in school but I just wasn’t feeling it.
Around the time Ice Cube had “Today Was A
Good Day” out, I used to freestyle, but I was
never serious about it.
What was your first performance?
My first performance was actually in Puerto
Rico with Mannie Fresh for the Mixshow Power
Summit last year at Club Arena. It was backwards for me because I know you’re supposed
to start off doing local performances and
talent shows, but I got a deal before I had a
chance to perform locally.
How did you get a deal so easily without going through the local circuit?
My homeboy Polow from Jim Crow hooked it
up. When [Jim Crow] were hot, they were
coming through Mobile to the radio station.
I know DJ Nick@Nite [from WBLX] because I
took my CD up there for him to play. He was
playing one of my songs, “Cold As Ice,” and he
called me when Jim Crow came through the
station. Me and Polow hooked up. Jim Crow
were with Interscope. When Polow heard my
CD, he flew me down to Atlanta to work with
him and Bubba Sparxx. They put some money behind studio time for me and we did a
demo. Polow went to Jimmy Iovine and Jimmy
loved it. We got a deal. We didn’t even have
a meeting.
Do you think you were signed because the
South is so hot right now?
My style of rap, I switch it up a lot. I don’t
feel like I’d be stuck if I came out any other
time. It’s not really about the South being hot.
The way my music is, it’s more of a universal
thing. I got songs that sound like you probably
couldn’t pinpoint my location.
I heard a few of your songs and they have a
real party vibe. What other types of songs
do you have?
Most of the topics I talk about on my songs
are street characteristics, things I did on
the street, or seen first-hand. It’s just
rapping about stuff I can relate to as far
as the streets of Mobile, Alabama. All of
them, they give a different vibe. Depends how the person feels when they
hear it. Sometimes a party vibe just
came out. Every time I hear a beat, I try to vibe
with it.
What was it like for you growing up?
My childhood wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. I’d say it was somewhat in-between. I had
bad days and good days. I wouldn’t say it was the
slummiest of the slums. I’ve seen people killed,
all the dope. I seen all the negativity but I also
had a positive side. My mom always tried to keep
me in church. She balanced it out.
What do you think you’d be doing today if you
weren’t rapping?
That’s probably why I’m not in prison today, because of my mama. A lot of my kinfolk got locked
up so it was an example before me. I took that as
a lesson. I did a lot of stuff where if I got caught
I would be locked up.
Didn’t you used to be called Lil’ Rich? How’d
you get your name?
I got the name Rich Boy because my daddy
owns a liquor store in the middle of the hood,
and people call him Rich. So, the people in the
neighborhood would always say, “That’s Rich’s
boy.” That’s how I came up with the name Rich
Boy.
Do you feel pressure to come out strong, because there aren’t any major rappers that
have come out Mobile?
It’s a lot of pressure. A lot of people think it
would feel good, but it keeps your mind working. Every morning I wake up and I feel like I got
to do something for the hometown. They never
had anybody on TV representing them. It’s big
for the city [for me to get signed to Interscope].
They probably feel better about it than me. I’m
just trying to stay focused.
Getting signed to Interscope is big. They’re
basically the biggest hip-hop label that’s out
there right now.
I feel like it was destiny. I feel sometimes that
God put me here for a reason. I feel like I do
have to deliver a positive message sometimes
because he gave me this chance on this big label. At the same time, it’s very competitive because they have the big guys over here like 50
Cent and Eminem. So, I have to try my best to
give them the best material to the point where
they won’t look over me. I have to stand out.
It’s an everyday fight.
How did you hook up with Mannie Fresh?
I was messing with Jazze Pha because Polow
gave him my CD. So Jazze Pha flew me out to a
Cash Money session because he wanted to meet
me. He introduced me to Mannie Fresh and we
hooked up. Fresh wanted to work me ever since
then. He stuck to his word. He wanted to work
with me and he made it happen.
Did Polow produce the majority of your album?
Polow produced a lot of the album. But he’s not
the type of producer that wants to just put all
his records on there. We came up with the best
of the best.
So your first single is called “D-Boyz,” right?
What’s the concept of the video for that
song?
It might sound like it’s glorifying the drug game,
but it’s really not. It’s not glorifying drug boys.
It’s telling drug dealers who are already in the
dope game, here’s the rules. It represents how
everybody wants to be a drug dealer these
days. The kids look up to the drug dealers more
than they look up to people who graduated
from college.
Do you think that’s a big problem with hiphop today?
I feel like some rappers do give a positive image, but some give off a negative image. But,
if people are buying their CDs, that’s what they
want to listen to. You can listen to the negative
stuff, but it all depends on how you’ve been
raised. If you’re raised right, it won’t rub off
on you.
- Jessica Koslow (photo: Julia Beverly)
OZONE JUNE 2005
23
In our May 2005 interview with BME artist and Lil Jon protege Bohagon, he said, “I ain’t no country bumpkin. A lot of people have this perception of the country that I’m trying to erase. People see videos of the
country where niggas playing with pigs.” Field Mob, who featured a pig in their video, apparently took the
comment as a personal insult and dissed Bohagon during their concert at The Firehouse in Columbus, Georgia. We spoke with Bohagon, Field Mob’s Shawn Jay, and the concert promoter (101.3 The Beat’s Program
Director DJ Controller) to find out what really happened. (interviews by Julia Beverly)
SHAWN JAY:
What did Bohagon say
that started this beef?
I heard he said something in XXL?
It wasn’t XXL, it was
that beautiful OZONE
Magazine. And it’s crazy
cause I was just tellin’
Jazze Pha the other day
that I liked [Bohagon’s]
music. And I seen him
at Body Tap and he said
what up to me but he
was actin’ funny. Then I go home and read
the OZONE Magazine and he’s in there talkin’
‘bout people havin’ pigs in their videos.
Are you sure his comment was supposed to
be a diss to you? Bubba Sparxxx had a pig in
his video too. Maybe it was just a general
statement.
We started that country shit, even though
[Bubba Sparxxx is] my dawg, we still did it
first. I don’t give a fuck. I never made any sly
remarks that [Bohagon] woulda thought was
supposed to be a diss to him. Real niggas do
real things.
And y’all got into a fistfight in Columbus?
What happened exactly?
Shit, I’m still pretty. I left with all my jewelry
after fightin’ ‘bout four of five of them boys. I
ain’t fight with Bohagon; we never had a fight,
let’s clear that up for the record. Do I look like
I was fightin’? You see me. I’m very pretty. I’m
my biggest fan. So whatever story y’all wanna
put out there, it’s cool. I’m good. I still got
all my jewelry on. I just wanted to clear that
up, because you know how the internet is.
Allhiphop.com must not like me, cause they
keep lyin’ on me and puttin’ some bullshit out
there. But it’s all good, cause I’m still pretty.
It’s no beef. I have no beef with the nigga.
So if Bohagon walked by right now, would
y’all be able to have a civil conversation or
would it be a fight?
A fight? No, for what? I heard people were
comin’ up to my label the next day tryin’ to
squash the shit, and I’m like, what are you
tryin’ to squash? There’s no beef. He didn’t
say anything to me. I’ve still not talked to Bohagon. You good, homie! Come see me! I’m
good, I’m excellent! But don’t be tellin’ no
lies on me. I did start this country shit. Niggas
be tryin’ to sound like Smoke and shit. Everybody be tryin’ to bite that country shit, but
we did start it.
Anything else you want to say?
I ain’t no hater. Buy Bohagon’s album when it
comes out. Buy it! I can’t believe that nigga
dissed me, though. That’s what hurt me ‘bout
it. He wasn’t even near me and I was showin’
this nigga love, biggin’ him up! Ask Jazze.
Ask a real nigga how I’m showin’ this nigga
love, and then I’m reading the magazine, like,
what!? Yeah, I got a pig in my video! I’ll have
another one if I want to! Why do another nigga
worry about how I get my paper?
24
OZONE JUNE 2005
BOHAGON:
Was your statement in OZONE about
pigs intended to be a Field Mob diss?
Nah. I didn’t say their name. I just
said that because, when everybody
finds out where I’m from, they automatically assume that I’m like [Field
Mob] and link me to them. People
think we kick it the same way. All I
was sayin’ is that you ain’t gonna see
no pigs in my video. [Field Mob] took
it differently, and they came to my
city and disrespected me.
They dissed you at a concert in Columbus?
I did the birthday bash with one station there, and [Field
Mob] was on the other station dissin’ me that same evening
but I wasn’t listening so I didn’t know nothing about it. I get
to the club that night and me and my folks go to VIP, and
all I hear is, “Fuck Bohagon, fuck you, you pussy nigga!”
Shawn Jay said I just wanna be like Field Mob, I can’t rap
like them. He said, “Don’t hide, come see me.” He in my
city, sayin’ this! In my hometown, my backyard!
So it turned into a physical altercation?
Yeah.
Was anyone injured?
I wasn’t injured. I’m good. I know what went down, but I
ain’t tryin’ to put their business in the street. I ain’t tryin’
to make it like no Flip and T.I. shit. I ain’t tryin’ to be rappin’ about them. We had a disagreement, and if they ready
to let it go, I’m ready to let it go. It’s on them. They disrespected me, and that’s why the shit happened. I ain’t like I
got some vendetta against them niggas.
You were cool with them before?
Yeah! We had just kicked it a few weeks before. Smoke had
come to a show I did at Chocolate’s, he was on stage with
me and shit. I seen Shawn Jay at Body Tap a few weeks
ago.
Yeah, he mentioned that, and he said that it seemed like
you had an attitude or were kinda cold towards him.
Hell naw. When I seen [Shawn Jay] at Body Tap, it was a
party Greg Street threw. It was packed to capacity. I was
high as hell. I dapped him up and kept it moving. I definitely
ain’t dissed him at the party. I got love for them cats. Why
would I be out here disrespecting him? I just let people know
that I’m not gonna have pigs in my video. I ain’t wish no ill
will on them or nothing. Regardless, if he felt like I ain’t
show him no love at the Body Tap, I dapped him up and said
“What’s happenin’.” I ain’t disrespect him. Like, the towns
we’re from are like 30, 40, 50 miles apart. I don’t need to
be dissin’ these cats, cause we reppin’ the same area.
It sounds like everybody’s ready to smooth over the situation. What’s the chances of you sitting down and talking
to Field Mob and resolving things?
I actually talked to Smoke the other day on the phone. It
was like a six-way call. I told him I ain’t got no problem
with them, but at the same time, I’m a man and you can’t
disrespect me.
I want everybody to know that I ain’t got nothing but love
for Field Mob. I was put in a position where I ain’t have no
choice. They put me in that position. I was actually a Field
Mob fan. I disagreed with the pigs in the video, but aside
from that, I’m a Field Mob fan.
DJ CONTROLLER:
What did you see happen at the
concert in Columbus?
While Field Mob was doing their
show, they took a long pause and
talked about Bohagon like a dog.
They said they represent the South,
and don’t appreciate Bohagon doin’
magazine interviews putting down
the South. When they came off the
stage, Bohagon’s entourage met
them with blows.
Was it an all-out fight or a minor
scuffle?
It was way beyond a minor scuffle.
We saw Bohagon’s entourage successfully whoop Shawn’s ass, however, Field Mob’s entourage did
considerable damage to Bohagon
too. Smoke kinda ran out of the action.
Did security or police get involved?
There was no police involvement,
but the club security had to pull
several people apart.
Being the promoter of the event,
did you feel like it was a negative
situation for your station or for
the city?
I think it was negative for hip-hop
shows across the board, because
we already catch hell trying to get
venues and insurance for these
type of events. I really hated to see
these guys that are looked up to by
our listening audience demonstrate
that type of hostility and lack of
self control.
Bohagon personally called me
the next day to apologize, and
I thought that was big of him.
He said it wasn’t his ambition
to be out here with that type
of hostility, but the fact that
he was being disrespected
and there was 2,000 people
in the place, he felt like he
had to do something.
Who exactly is Greg Street?
From the radio to the studio to the clubs, Greg Street is a radio
personality, DJ, and entrepreneur.
Where are you from?
I’m from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which is about ninety miles from
Jackson. Me and David Banner are boys from back there. I started
doing radio after school and when I graduated I started working for
the radio station full-time in Hattiesburg. I left school after my second year and got my break working at 93 WLBX in Mobile, Alabama,
which is like a legendary station in the South.
How did you end up here in Atlanta?
I left Mobile in 1990 and went to Houston, DJing at Magic 102. I
moved to Dallas in 1992 and then Atlanta in 1995. In 2002, I started
DJing in both Dallas and Atlanta. I was flying back and forth between the two cities. Now it’s 2005, and 40,000 sky miles later, I’m
back in Atlanta full-time. I’m still doing some stuff in Dallas as far
as consulting, but I’m moving back to Atlanta full-time to go back
to V103. That’s the station I’ve been working at since 1995. Seven
years full time, three years part time.
Aside from radio, what else do you have going on?
I’ve got a lot of projects jumpin’ off. The celebrity car/bike show
DVD is coming out soon. It’s a mixtape/soundtrack with a DVD. It
has footage from the car show in Dallas in 2004 and Atlanta’s car
show in 2005 over Easter weekend. Everyone was at the car show in
Dallas – Mannie Fresh and Baby, Jermaine Dupri and Bow Wow, Ciara, Boyz N Da Hood, Young Jeezy, Slim Thug, and a lot of athletes.
At the Atlanta show of course we had Bobby Valentino, the Young
Gunz, Memphis Bleek, Young Jeezy, T.I., Big Boi, Evander Holyfield,
and Xzibit. The DVD is designed for guys who have screens in their
cars. We’ve got a couple more celebrity events and concerts coming
up. The parties are gonna be crazy. It’s a whole movement coming
back to the ATL.
When you were traveling back and forth between Dallas and Atlanta, how hard was it to maintain both markets?
It wasn’t that bad. I did a hot club in Dallas called Club Blue on
Friday nights, so I’d stay up all night, catch the 5:30 AM flight to
Atlanta. Get in around 9 AM, go home, take a nap, then go to the
radio station around 5 PM. I’d go on the air at 6, spin at The Bounce
and Pin-Ups, then go back to Dallas on the 3 o’clock flight and be at
work in Dallas by 6.
Were you living out of a suitcase the whole time?
I didn’t have to pack because I had houses in two cities, so all I had
to do was take my backpack and car keys. I’d leave one car at the
Atlanta airport, fly to Dallas, get my other car, go to work, then
come back to the airport and fly back out.
Coming from a small market like Hattiesburg to two major markets is a huge accomplishment. How do you think you were able
to pull that off?
Prayer. You’ve got to believe in what you’re doing. You’ve got to be
honest with yourself: do you have the talent to do what you want?
Are you a slick enough marketing person to make it happen? You’ve
got to be creative, not just doing what everyone else is doing. For
all the Mississippi people out there, me and David Banner are committed to doing a project. We’re gonna do a Mississippi album of
all new artists and put it out there underground. We gonna find the
hottest artists all through out the Delta and put together an underground Mississippi album, and he’s gonna do the tracks. We gonna
team up wth the different radio stations in Mississippi to find the
talent, bring them all into Jackson, and judge it to pick the winners
to be on the album.
Aside from DJing abilities, what do you think are important skills
to have in radio?
Marketing is very important. You’ve got to do things to brand your
name and be out here in the community, for real. I do scholarship
funds, after-school programs. I take kids every year to the White
House, the Smithsonian Institute, Tuskegee, Disney World, stuff
like that. People can tell if you’re real or fake, so if you’re
able to really connect with the community that makes you
stand out.
Do you want to give out any contact information?
GregStreetCarShow.com or GregStreetOnline.com.
OZONE JUNE 2005
27
What’s the name of your new album?
Don P: Trillville Reloaded. It’s goin’ down.
Don P: You talkin’ about the issue with Pimp C on the cover, right? All I
gotta say is that when Pimp C gets out, that shit is gonna be on!
Walk me through some of the songs on the album. What’s the concept
of the songs, and who’s featured on them?
L.A.: Well, the intro is us three lettin’ you know that we’ve been gone
and now we back. We’re household names now cause of “Some Cut,” and
we just tryin’ to let people know where we been and where we tryin’
to take you.
Do we have features from the rest of the BME family on this album?
Dirty Mouf: Yeah, we got E-40, Lil J from Crime Mob, and Lil Jon, of
course.
After the intro, what’s the first song on the album?
Don P: ”Speak Nothin’ Less,” produced by ya boy Don P. Doin’ it real
big. I think Dirty Mouf’s verse on this song is one of the hottest verses on
the album. Y’all gotta check that song out, that shit is jammin’. It’s off
the chain so make sure y’all get that. Number three is the “Yeah” song
with Three 6 Mafia. You know, it’s my trademark “Yeah.” I had it on the
first album, the Trillville/Scrappy album. They was all asking why I say
“Yeah.”
How is it different than the Lil Jon “Yeah”?
Don P: (demonstrates the difference between his “Yeah!” and Lil Jon’s
“Yeah!”) Then I got the “A” and the “Yeah’s” that I’ve had for years, but
niggas try to take my “Yeah’s.”
Do you consider crunk music to be hip-hop, or do you feel like it’s
something totally different?
L.A.: Crunk music is its own general character, ya feel what I’m sayin’?
That’s what it is. Crunk is crunk.
So if somebody up North was like, “Oh, I don’t fuck with Trillville,
that’s not real hip-hop,” what would you say?
Dirty Mouf: Sounds good to me! That’s crunk!
Don P: I mean, I love hip-hop, man. I’m a DJ too so of course I play hiphop records. DJ Corleone.
Do y’all listen to East coast artists?
Don P: Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, I love Jadakiss.
Dirty Mouf: Wu-Tang.
L.A.: Shawn Carter, holla at ya boy.
What do you think about 50 Cent
battling Jadakiss and Fat Joe?
Don P: Shit, they doin’ they thing.
Dirty Mouf: Doin’ they thug thizzle.
L.A.: Definitely.
Don P: They rappin’ on records and
they doin’ it good, fa sure.
How many tracks did you produce for this album?
Don P: I think I only did two on this album cause I’m saving my tracks
for Trilltown Entertainment. Besides, Lil Jon is the king. Fuck that. Go
‘head, Jon.
How exactly did you get the sound effects of the creaking bedspring
for “Some Cut”?
Dirty Mouf: We was at L.A.’s house and, you know, we just had the recorder up under the bed and it went down.
So you were all in the room together?
Don P: Nah, we had slipped it up under the bed and he ain’t even know
it was in there.
I don’t know if I believe that. It sounds a little too crisp on the record.
Don P: Anything can be done in the studio. It wasn’t really even intended
to be used on a song. IT was gonna be a “skeet” but then Jon was like,
“We need to get that on a song.” So we put it in the beginning, and
there it was.
So you guys are getting a lot more cut now.
Don P: I’ve been gettin’ cut.
L.A.: Yeah, ain’t nothing changed but the range, you know?
Speaking of cuttin’, I heard there was a mixtape coming out about
Don P and your, uh, bedroom habits.
Don P: Yeah, yeah. There’s a little mixtape. AIn’t nobody really paying
attention to it, so I don’t really wanna blow it up. I ain’t even gonna
respond to it. It’s a lot of mixtapes where people try to single me out,
I guess because I be doin’ some crazy shit other than just rappin’. I be
producing and all that shit, and niggas just try to call me out for some
reason. Everybody knows what the
real is. When I take my shit to the
streets, then niggas wanna change
their minds and shit so I’d rather just
not even speak on it. A lot of niggas
got mixtapes out about us. That shit
don’t mean shit, cause niggas ain’t
makin’ no money off it. I come out
with my own CD about me and it’ll
sell more than these niggas talkin’
‘bout me.
“The hood ain’t cool. A lot of
people try to make it seem like
staying in the ghetto is cool, but
that’s where a lot of people are
forced to be. Once you get that
chance to move out the hood,
that’s what you do.” - Don P
Are y’all on good terms with everyone right now, or are we gonna hear
any diss records on this album?
Don P: I doubt it. Ya know, if I’m gonna diss somebody, I try to bring it to
the streets if it’s a real problem. I really don’t want to waste my time,
but you might hear something from me on a mixtape or something if I’m
just trying to warn a nigga.
When y’all were beefing with Lil Scrappy last year, he made a comment that y’all were from the suburbs to diss you.
Dirty Mouf: Everybody from the suburbs. Can’t be in the hood too long.
Don P: Your whole goal is to get out the hood. The hood ain’t cool. A lot
of people try to make it seem like staying in the ghetto is cool, but that’s
where a lot of people are forced to be. Once you get that chance to move
out the hood, that’s what you do. You can always go back to your hood. I
always ride back through my hood. But where am I gonna park my truck
with 26’s at? Not in the hood! That shit gon’ get stolen.
How long have you had the name Trillville?
Forever. As long as we can remember.
There’s a lot of people using that term. There’s Webbie and Boosie’s
label Trill Entertainment, Treal from Mississippi with Reese & Bigalow,
the group Treal from Orlando…
Don P: That’s the originators of trill, Bun B and Pimp C, that’s they thing
so of course they gonna have a label called Trill. But we got Trilltown
Entertainment.
The group Treal had some comments about you guys in the last issue
of OZONE. Do you have a response to that article?
What’s the first project coming from your label Trilltown?
Don P: We’ve got the Trilltown Mafia coming out this summer. That’s
Montay C, Big Mill, and T-3. Trilltown Mafia will be out this summer.
There’s been a good response to them already.
Do they have the same type of sound as Trillville?
Don P: It’s a lot of the same, but a little different. They still in high
school, so they crazy cool.
So it’s kinda like when y’all first came out.
Don P: Nah, kinda like Crime Mob, but a lil’ different. I did the beats, so
you kinda get a little chance to feel my vibe.
Is that an independent project, or are you doing it through BME?
Don P: Yeah, we’ll probably set it up so it’ll come out through BME and
Warner Brothers.
Dirty Mouf: Trillville Reloaded coming real soon: June 21st.
L.A.: New album, new album, new album.
Don P: Shouts to my boy Eric from BME with the shirts and the shades.
He do a lot more than that too, but this is what I like the most besides
him callin’ me, wakin’ me up at six to catch a flight. OZONE Magazine,
we got the cover, yeah!
- Interview and photos by Julia Beverly
OZONE JUNE 2005
29
What is your job title?
Big Mouth Marketing and Promotions is my company.
I’ve been self-employed for about six years now.
I’m the fusion between the record labels and the
corporations and the streets. I understand my market, so I’m able to pull the trigger on projects and
help corporations connect the dots. Basically, I sell
street credibility.
zon Wireless, Guiness Extra Stout, Hennessy, New Balance, Reebok, Alize, and
Seagram’s Gin, to name a few. The music
game has always been consistent, but the
corporate shit keeps my lights on. The labels
ain’t gonna pay you shit, and you’re waiting
three months for a check. If you know how to
hustle, you can make side money. With most of
the labels I work with, I have personal relationships with the artists and their management. If
Lil Scrappy’s on a promo tour, for example, you
can leverage things out for yourself. These labels
be tryin’ to pimp niggas, and they’ve got a hundred
interns working for them for free. They want you to
be on call 24/7. I don’t regret working at a label,
though, because all this stuff helped open up the
doors for me.
And you also manage Pitbull, right?
I guess my title is manager, yeah, but we’ve also
got Team Pitbull, Pitbull Productions, which is another company within itself. I’m just a team player.
“Manager” is just a title. I play my position, like,
whatever I need to do so we can win as a team. Me
and Pit are here to win. I just want to see homie go
over the top. I’m tryin’ to get Pit that other money
– that money outside of the music.
Did you go to school for marketing?
I went to school for business administration, marketing, and advertising, but I never really finished.
Actually, first I went to school for culinary arts. I
love cooking, but when I started doing it as a career, it took the love out of it for me. I was working
in a restaurant, but I was also doing security with
my dude Duberry at this club. They’d let me set
up a picture booth, do promotions, whatever. I was
just hustling, trying to get in where I fit in. When I
walked away from my job with the restaurant, they
just saw that I had charisma and was willing to work.
I was in the streets, dealing with people. I loved it
and I went hard with it. It was like a crash course
in promotions. I learned the market real quick.
There’s a difference between record label promotions and club promotions. If you’ve got a club night
every week, you gotta go hard every day all day.
You’re pretty much working 18 hour days, 7 days a
week. It ain’t no rest, but you learn your market.
He did the straight hood parties, so I learned quick.
He took me through Carol City, Liberty City, and I
just built good relationships with people. I’d see
the dudes out there with the record label promos,
the wrapped trucks. These dudes were getting big
accounts, but I’m in the hood, everywhere, all day,
and I ain’t seen these dudes. Me and my team were
like, hold up, we need to get that money. I started
trying to make relationships in the music industry.
I’ve never been, like, a dick-riding type of dude.
I’m not star struck or anything. If I see an artist
somewhere, I ain’t tryin’ to get an autograph, I’m
tryin’ to tell the nigga, “Dawg, I could help you out
here.” I just needed the right person to see what I
was doing and from there it would pop.
What was your breakthrough?
It was actually some karma shit. Jeff Sanchez,
who was working for Luke Records, was in Opium
and he lost his 2way. That’s when 2ways had first
popped off and everybody in the industry had one.
Jeff kept paging the 2way, and my man had found
it and didn’t know how to use it so he brought it to
me. I returned Jeff’s call and of course, he was really happy to get the 2way back. He started seeing
me everywhere doing promo. A few months after
that, he was moving back to New York and trying to
find somebody to fill his shoes at Luke’s label. He
asked me if I wanted to work a 9 to 5 with Luke. A
lot of people say Luke be fuckin’ people and stuff
like that, but I just saw that shit as an opportunity. Dude has been in the game for twenty years
strong, so I figure this nigga got
to have something to teach me. I
wasn’t planning on making a mil
off Luke, I just wanted to learn
something in the school of hard
knocks. Luke basically taught
me everything I know as far as
working records and thinking
Big Teach
Big Mouth
Marketing & Promotions
outside the box. Luke’s been through
a lot of challenges in his career, so if
you can pass six months with Luke,
he’s a good dude. Once he sees that
you want to learn, he’ll show you.
Luke taught me the importance of relationships. I went on tour with Luke;
we did like 35 cities. It was different
than working for a big label like Def
Jam. We had seven people on staff doing everything. And that’s how I met
Pit, working with Luke. Me and Pit was
on tour together, so we have the same
mentality, the same grind, the same
hunger. We understood each other.
When Pit’s contract was up, he started
doing his own thing. After 9/11, everything got crazy across the board,
and everything slowed down. Luke
shut down the promotions department at the label for a few months so
I started doing my own thing. I wanted
to start a promotions company to get
some corporate accounts. I started
working with Akademics and getting
on people’s radar.
What did you do for Akademiks?
I played a big role in helping to brand
them out here. When Clue was endorsing Akademics, niggas were confused.
They thought it was his record label.
I helped them develop an identity.
Everybody was trying to go after the
same label accounts, so I decided to
go left with it. I started getting jobs
from the University of Miami, Jackson
Memorial Hospital – we did a safe sex
campaign – stuff like that.
Who are some of your other clients?
Bad Boy, TVT, CRUNK!!! Energy Drink,
Sony Ericsson, Cingular Wireless, Veri-
Big Mouth seems to be extremely organized. How
did you develop your business structure?
I pay attention. I sit back and watch the labels and
corporations. I look at their structure and watch
what works and what doesn’t work. Not having a
structure at all just doesn’t work. If you’re trying to
win, you’ve got to have some kind of structure. We
just have a good team. I’ve got so much shit going
on that if I’m all over the place with it, it’s not gonna work. Pit had a big year last year, and Pit’s work
ethic is just crazy. You can ask anybody and they’ll
tell you, a lot of success comes to his team too. If
he has an idea, we pull the trigger on that shit. We
appreciate TVT and everything they do, but we do
our own shit too. We don’t just sit back and wait for
things to happen, we go look for opportunities.
As Pitbull’s manager, do you have to play the bad
guy sometimes?
Well, we deal with a lot of people, and you have to
separate the personal from the business. We take
care of our people, but we’ve got bills to take care
of too. When people deal with Pitbull directly, because of certain relationships, sometimes I have to
be the asshole and put my foot down just to make
sure niggas ain’t tryin’ to take advantage of the relationships. We’ve got roles to play. I’m Pit’s manager and Purple is his road manager, and we have
our own system. We go to the club, we have fun,
but at the same time we have somebody posted up
by the DJ booth making sure our records is getting
played. We have our fun but at the end of the day
everybody on our team realizes we’ve got to make
sure our work is good too.
How did Pit’s new situation with Puff and Bad Boy
Latino come about?
Bad Boy Latino is still in the real early phases, but
we made the announcement because of the Latin
Billboard Awards. It was a good time to let people
know. Pit is gonna be playing an executive role in
Bad Boy Latino. He’s the perfect person for that,
because he is the link. He has records playing on
mainstream radio, but he also has records playing
on official Spanish stations and it doesn’t sound
corny. It doesn’t sound forced when he spits in
Spanish because it’s authentic. The first time Puff
seen him perform was at Khaled’s birthday party.
Khaled pulled me to the side like, “Yo, Puff was
askin’ about your man,” so when Pit came off stage
they started choppin’ it up or whatever. Puff told
me to holla at his man about some Sean John shit,
and 8 in the morning the next day dude is paging
me. Next thing you know, we in Atlanta
for the Sean John photo shoot.
“I sit back and watch the labels
and corporations. I look at their
structure and see what works
and what doesn’t work.”
To contact me, visit www.bigmouthpromo.com or www.pitbullmusic.com.
Frans, Bogart, and C-Eye, keep ya head
up. Demi, see you when you get home.
OZONE JUNE 2005
33
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[email protected]
01: Slim Thug and Jimmy Henchman
(Miami, FL)
02: Oowee, Mami Chula, and Don
Magic Juan (Atlanta, GA)
03: DJ Chill, Cris Ward, Trae, and
Slab on the set of Paul Wall’s “Sittin’ Sideways” (Houston, TX)
04: Trick Daddy and Juvenile @
05: Cadillac Tah, Irv Gotti, and
Ump @ Crobar (Miami, FL)
06: Dirtbag, and DJ Khaled @
Springfest (Miami, FL0
07: Southern Hustlas @ Junkyard 2 (Canton, MS)
08: Young Buck reppin’
OZONE @ Southern University (Baton Rouge, LA)
09: Nero, Mr. Magic, and DJ
Pat Pat reppin’ OZONE @
BCR (Daytona Beach, FL)
10: Infarel, H-Vidal, and
Acafool @ Ludacris’ concert (Tampa, FL)
11: Cedric Hollywood
reppin’ OZONE @ Springfest (Miami, FL)
12: Freda Jackson and
B.G. at Club Dreams for
his listening party (New
Orleans, LA)
13: KLC and DJ Black
on the set of Frayser
Boy’s “I Got Dat Drank”
(Houston, TX)
14: Killer Mike reppin’
OZONE @ Springfest
(Miami, FL)
15: DJ Aspekt, Cuban
Link, and Quake @ Baja
(Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
16: Lil Wyte, Todd Moscowitz, and Joie Manda
(Houston, TX)
17: Three 6 Mafia
meets Beats by the
Pound: Juicy J, Mo B
Dick, DJ Paul, and KLC
(Houston, TX)
18: Sheek Louch, Busta
Rhymes, and Mannie
Fresh (Miami, FL)
19: Lil Keith, DJ Chill,
Cap’n Jack and Paul Wall
reppin’ OZONE @ Konnections (Houston, TX)
20: Tony B, Bigalow, Treal,
and Reese reppin’ OZONE
@ Junkyard 2 (Canton, MS)
21: Kaspa and Young Cash
@ Club Troy for the Hittmen
DJ’s showcase (Miami, FL)
Photo Credits:
DJ Aspekt: #15
DJ Majick: #10
DJ Pat Pat: #09
J Lash: #01,18
07,13,16,17,19,20,21
King Yella: #08
Malik Abdul: #11,14
Marcus Jethro: #12
Marshall Smith: #02
8
OZONE JUNE 2005
What’s unique about this new album you’re
putting out, Soup For The Freaky Soul?
What I’m doing with this album is a different
type of packaging. The album itself has spoken word and comedy, which is all a part of
hip-hop. But the album isn’t just an album,
it’s a double CD with a book. One CD is a DVD,
the other is the record, and also the book.
I heard part of the album, where you were
explaining how Gloria Velez got the good
roles in all the music videos.
Oh, yeah, I’m tellin’ stories about everybody,
all the controversial stories and things people
want to know. I’m talking about a lot of things
I’ve never really talked about – the unedited,
uncut version.
Do you find it ironic that you’re essentially
making money by telling Gloria Velez’s stories, rather than her making money by telling her own stories?
Well, that’s the way it works. That’s what we
do here. It’s so many things that have been
written in magazines, so it’s almost the same
thing. As you know better than anybody – the
artist doesn’t control the things that are written about them. The actual person who writes
the article has control, and it’s unfortunate
that there aren’t too many journalists going
about it in the right way. A magazine is supposed to get this side of the story, that side of
the story, and do the research. We don’t have
a lot of that in this business.
Let’s compare someone like Gloria Velez
to someone like Superhead. Superhead is
writing a book about her own experiences.
Do you have more respect for her because
she’s finding a way to profit from it?
I think that once you become an icon and a
public figure, people wanna know about you.
People want to hear how Oprah started. People want to know what happened to OJ. People want to hear the freaky stories about what
happened at the University of Miami or what
happened to the Michigan basketball players.
When you deal with women who are strippers or promiscuous or whatever, do you
ever get into the psychology of why they
became that way? A lot of people would say
they were abused in the past.
I talk to a lot of them. I don’t deal with the
ones who are mentally scarred. You can look
at a girl and have a conversation with them
and tell. Unfortunately, for black women or
black people in general in this country, there’s
really not a lot of opportunities unless you
want to be a maid at a hotel or something
like that. Some of these girls have tried to get
jobs and they can’t be a secretary or whatever because the boss is not their daddy or
their uncle. So instead of working in a kitchen
or some other demeaning job, they’re taking
advantage of these other opportunities to go
to the clubs and dance. Some of them are
very professional. When you find those type
of girls, who look at dancing from a professional standpoint rather than the ones who
have been abused, those are the ones I deal
with.
How can you tell the difference?
You can tell. You can just look at a girl
and see if she’s scarred. Some of them
are just too sensitive. I told this one
girl, “Oh, you’re so beautiful,” and
she just started crying. That told me
something was wrong, because somebody’s been
putting her down or telling her she doesn’t look
good. I’m a guy, but I’m also an analytical person more than anything. I sit there and analyze
everything before I even open my mouth. I get in
everybody’s head. I’ve already got in your head.
I’ve read enough of your magazines. I know.
Weren’t you going to put out a music album?
Did you decide to do this instead?
I wanted to put it all in one package, because
today, just a CD is nothing. You can get all the
music off the internet before it even comes out.
I think the consumer needs to get much more for
their buck. I wanted to be more creative and put
all this into one package.
Did you feel like Miami radio wasn’t supporting
the songs you’d put out?
I was just testing some music. I would always
test a record underground before I put them out.
That’s why I was the first one to even have an underground radio station. I’m not too happy right
now with [WMIB] The Beat. I just don’t know if
the support is there. As far as [99 Jamz] WEDR,
I think that enough has been said. Right now
they’re doing a hell of a job supporting our local
artists. We fight, but then we straighten it out.
Yes. It’ll all be there in one package.
Who does deserve to have a pimp cup?
A guy who’s out there on the street pimpin’
girls. That’s a pimp. I think there’s Hollywood
pimps and there’s real pimps. Don Juan used
to be a pimp. Me and Don Juan is cool, but Don
Juan’s not pimping no more. To a certain extent, though, he’s pimping the rappers.
Who cheats more: men or women?
I think that neither one has a respect for a relationship. It’s so much more about cosmetics
now than real love. This is my analytical side
speaking. I think women care more about what
kind of a car a guy can provide for them and how
he’s living. It’s not what it used to be, where
you go on a date with a girl and after a while
her daddy’s like, “You can marry my daughter,
that’s acceptable.” These days, people just get
divorced. Back in the day, if a woman was divorced, it was a bad thing. Now it’s like a fad,
something fashionable to do. It’s almost like
rappers who leave the people that discovered
them for other companies. It’s a fad.
You speak on Russell Simmons and Puff Daddy
in particular?
I’m speaking on a lot of people and things in the
state of hip-hop.
It’s funny that you say that, because “conservatives” would agree with you and blame the
changes in society on music like yours.
What I do in the business was here before me
– the sex business, adult entertainment. That’s
what I provide for hip-hop, and that’s why I’m
going into the adult industry full-fledge. That’s
been here. I don’t rap about taking your girl.
I don’t talk about, “I’m gonna get your girl,”
or, “Come be with me and I’ll buy you all these
things.” I will clearly say that hip-hop is responsible for a lot of these Hollywood relationships.
That’s why there are Hollywood relationships
like, for example, Tom Cruise being with this
girl the other day and now he’s with this other
girl today. I don’t like it myself, I don’t like to
hear guys on records talking about taking someone else’s girl. I don’t think highly of that. I
would never do something like that.
I guess we’ll just have to wait for the album.
- Interview and photo by Julia Beverly
I remember some comments you made dissing
Snoop. Do you think the pimp cup has become
too common?
Yes, it is. At the beginning of the CD, I said a lot
of things that’s going to piss a lot of people off.
I feel like I’ve done so many things in this business, I can tell Russell Simmons or Puff Daddy,
“You need to check yourself.” I can say that because I’ve been put on the cross for this business. That’s why they call me Uncle. If anybody
takes it personally, that’s just them.
OZONE JUNE 2005
9
01: G. Dash, DJ Chill, and DJ Dirty
reppin’ OZONE on the set of Frayser
Boy’s “I Got Dat Drank” (Houston,
TX)
02: Jermaine Dupri and friends
(Miami, FL)
03: Seville on the set of Paul
Wall’s “Sittin’ Sideways” (Houston, TX)
04: Bun B and David Banner @
05: Big Pokey and Paul Wall
on their video set for “Sittin’
06: The g.r.i.T. Boys on the
set of Paul Wall’s “Sittin’
07: Konkrete and Big Boi @
Crobar (Miami, FL)
08: Slim Thug and J-Bo of
the YoungBloodz @ Springfest (Miami, FL)
09: Marcus Jethro and
Carl Thomas reppin’
OZONE @ Hot 104.5 (New
Orleans, LA)
10: B.G. and Wally
Sparks @ Power 94’s
celebrity bball game
(Chattanooga, TN)
11: Mike Sherman and
Mecca @ the On Point
offices (Miami, FL)
12: Smack and Bleu
Davinci @ Crobar (Miami, FL)
13: Stay Fresh, TJ
Chapman, and T-Pain
@ Club Troy for the
(Miami, FL)
14: Pop and Mike Diesel
@ DJ Chill’s networking
event (Houston, TX)
15: Beenie Man and
Guerilla Black @
16: Bigga Rankin, Lex,
Felisha Foxx, and AntLava reppin’ OZONE
@ Club Troy for the
(Miami, FL)
17: Luc-Duc, T-Smiley,
TJ Chapman, Young
Cash, and T-Pain @ Club
Troy (Miami, FL)
18: Michael Watts trades
his Swisha House chain for
a cowboy hat on the set
of Frayser Boy’s “I Got Dat
Drank” (Miami, FL)
19: Big Lip Jr., Big Lip
Bandit, and David Banner @
20: Dirty South Divas @ Junkyard 2 (Canton, MS)
21: The All-Starz @ Plush (St.
Louis, MO)
Photo Credits:
Carmen Davis: #10
J Lash: #02,12
JC: #21
06,07,08,13,14,15,16,17,
18,19,20
Marcus Jethro: #09
On Point: #11
10
OZONE JUNE 2005
Ed. note: This interview was conducted before a warrant was issued for Radric “Gucci Mane” Davis’ arrest in the death of Macon, Georgia rap artist Henry “Pookie Loc”
Clark. According to Gucci Mane’s lawyer,
Dennis Scheib, he was acting in self-defense
against five men attempting to rob and/or
kill him. Allegedly, the May 10th incident
was the result of Gucci Mane’s rap rival
Young Jeezy’s “Stay Strapped” – at the end
of the song, Jeezy offered a $10,000 reward
for Gucci Mane’s “So Icy” chain. Jeezy has
since repeatedly denied involvement. Due
to a court-ordered gag order, Gucci Mane,
who has been released on bond, is not allowed to speak about the incident.
Where are you from?
Originally, I’m from Birmingham. I’ve been up
here since I was eight years old, so I rep both
Atlanta and Birmingham. It was a family thing.
I still go visit Birmingham all the time.
What are the differences between Atlanta
and Birmingham?
Everything that Atlanta was doing two or three
years ago, they’re doing it now in Birmingham.
They’re like two or three years behind. Not
like it’s a bad thing, that’s just the way it is.
They dress like we used to dress. Everybody’s
real humble down there. Atlanta’s way more
fast-paced.
Was “Black Tees,” the remix to “White
Tees,” the first song you put out?
Well, “Black Tees” was my first exposure.
The first song I put out was called “Fa Sho.”
It didn’t really make it to radio, but it was a
club banger back in ’98. Then I came with the
“Black Tees” remix and “So Icy.” I’ve been doing music since I was 13.
How did you get interested in rapping?
I started out writing poetry in kindergarten.
When I started reading and rhyming, I always
knew how to put words together. I was writing
short stories. That’s all I really liked to do. I
always wanted to be a rapper. I listened to
LL Cool J, Run-DMC, and Funkmaster Flex, all
of them were my influences. I liked the New
York rappers cause they were getting all the
exposure. But I was really diggin’ 2 Live Crew,
I like bass. I got the lyrics of up North but I got
that down South twang.
Was “Black Tees” supposed to be a diss to
the Franchize Boys?
Well, they cool with me now, but at first I was
dissin’ them at every show I did. They were
like, “We heard about you dissin’ us, we don’t
want beef.” I told them I had to get on some
kinda way. It’s like, by any means necessary.
They were like, “Yeah, we expected that. Do
ya thing.” I was just playin’ around when I did
the song. They had made “White Tees” and we
were just playin’ around in the studio. They
from the West side and I’m from the East
side, so it’s a whole different culture.
And then “So Icy” is your first single, with
Young Jeezy?
Yeah, that’s my new single. It’s been getting a lot of radio play? The version with
Jeezy is like the street version. We’ve got
different versions of the song.
So what’s your label situation now? I
heard you’ve been with a lot of labels.
Oh, yeah. It’s a lot of drama. Lots of drama, but
drama sells. My first label was Straight Drop Records. They put out that song “Fa Sho” and it
started getting a lot of play, but then the company kinda folded. Then I started the Never Again
Family, and then I started doing some stuff with
the Sign Yaself Clique which turned into Sign
Yaself Records. It started becoming like, just a
bunch of homeboys. We couldn’t really handle
no business. A couple business people started
coming around to try to structure the company.
I structured my own company, LaFlare Records.
My name used to be Gucci Mane La Flare, so I
just took the La Flare off and put it by itself as
my company name.
but don’t have talent, and a lot of people have
talent but don’t have the money. If you’ve got
both, you can make it.
Why’d you change labels so much?
Straight lack of money, no lie.
Are you planning to do more remixes like
“Black Tee”?
Yeah, I wanna do a lot. I’m gonna do “Check Out
My Bezel” over the beat to “Get On My Level.”
I’m gonna red “Oh I Think They Like Me” as “Oh
I Think I’m Icy.” I’m gonna redo Crime Mob’s
“Knuck When I Buck” to “Nothin’ But Precious
Cuts,” like the diamond cuts I got. I just like to
be crazy. I ain’t tryin’ to be Weird Al or nothing,
though, I got a lot of my own stuff, though, like
“So Icy.” Stuff like “Black Tees” is just mixtape
songs. That ain’t gon’ make my album, it’s just
fuck-ups to get a buzz. Now that people are
hearing me, I dropped “So Icy.” The name of
the album is Trap House.
You weren’t under contract?
No contracts. Now, me and Big Cat have merged
together to put out my album, Trap House. La
Flare Entertainment is my label.
Why’d you name yourself Gucci Mane?
That’s my daddy name. I had that name all my
life. It has nothing to do with clothes, that’s
just the way I always spelled it. You know, we
country, so it’s Gucci Mane, not Gucci Man. And
I got my own clothing line called Fruity, for real.
It’s for unique, diverse individuals. It’s really for
women only. But I had to advertise it sometimes.
That’s me, I gotta be fruity too.
Uh.. Fruity? That sounds gay.
No, no. I’m all the way straight. It’s nothing like
that. It’s no secrets about that, that ain’t no
mystery. I just like fruity colors, you know, I like
to be colorful.
Is Atlanta a good place to break through as a
rapper?
It’s very hard to break out of Atlanta, cause I’ve
been trying for a long time just to get heard. I
had a good following in Birmingham, also, so if
you making good music and people feel you, you
can break anywhere. A lot of people have money
You think you’ve got both?
I know I’ve got both. It’s over, it’s a wrap.
Why do people say you’re a clown?
It’s just because I’m always smiling. I always be
having fun. I never get mad like people expect
me to. There’s all this drama, people sayin’ bad
things about me. Everybody talks bad about me
and I just laugh it off. That’s my way of dealing
with it. That’s what my momma told me, just
laugh at ‘em and they can’t stop you.
Are there any features on your album?
I’ve got DJ Toomp, who makes a lot of T.I.’s
beats. I got Dewan from 112, Shawty Red, Keno,
The Hitmakers, Bun B, Young Jeezy, Killer Mike,
Tity Boy from DTP, Baby D, Kilo, and a lot of
other rappers from Atlanta and a couple people
from Houston.
Anything else you wanna say?
My label is gon’ be respected. Everybody thinks
I can’t run a company cause I can’t take it seriously, but they don’t know that I’ve aligned
myself with some smart people.
- Photo & interview by Julia Beverly
OZONE JUNE 2005
11
01: Trick Daddy, Supa Cindy, and Benji
Brown @ Springfest (Miami, FL)
02: Homebwoi and Greg Street @
the Ying Yang Twins’ press junket
(Atlanta, GA)
03: Fiona, Charlie Hustle, Rob
Jackson, and Bobby Creek @
04: Paul Wall, Bun B, and DJ
Paul on the set of Frayser Boy’s
“I Got Dat Drank” (Houston,
TX)
05: Guccio and Tony Neal at
Plush (St. Louis, MO)
06: Rob Mac, TJ Chapman,
Scruface @ Club Troy (Miami, FL)
07: Todd Moscowitz, Earl
Hayze, and Joie Manda @
08: Lex and Tiarra Marie
reppin’ OZONE @ 99 Jamz
(Miami, FL)
09: Jermaine Dupri reppin’ OZONE on the set of
J-Kwon’s video (Miami,
FL)
10: Marques Houston
and his women (MIami,
FL)
11: Swizz Beatz reppin’
OZONE on the set of
DMX’s video (Miami, FL)
12: J Prince reppin’
OZONE @ Perfect Rack
(Houston, TX)
13: Kano, CeCe,
Clesha, Billy Cook
(Houston, TX)
14: B5 getting
CRUNK!!! @ Hot 104.5
(New Orleans, LA)
15: Mike Jones, Funkmaster Flex, and Paul
Wall (NYC)
16: Partners-N-Crime,
Juvenile, and Joie
Manda @ Springfest
(Miami, FL)
17: Young Cash, the 904
Click, and Raylo @ Club
Troy for the Hittmenn
DJ’s showcase (Miami,
FL)
18: Boyz N Da Hood with
DJ Wop and Raj Smoove
in the French Quarter
(New Orleans, LA)
19: Pretty Ricky admiring
themselves and their glitter (Miami, FL)
20: Mike Jones, Bun B,
Michael Watts, and Juicy J
on the set of Frayser Boy’s
“I Got Dat Drank” (Houston,
TX)
21: OG Ron C and Slim Thug
on South Beach (Miami, FL)
Photo Credits:
Bogan: #09
J Lash: #10,19
JC: #05
Joie Manda: #15
06,07,08,12,13,16,17,20,21
Malik Abdul: #11
Marcus Jethro: #14,18
12
OZONE JUNE 2005
What part of Mississippi are you from?
I’m from Canton, but I moved to Jackson
when I was about 15. That’s when I started my
label, 1 Life 1 Love. I had another label called
Black Diamond and we switched the name. I
was just brainstorming; looking for a universal
name. I was cliqued up, so everybody within
my circle, it was like 1 Life 1 Love.
Was that around the same time Cash Money
and No Limit were coming up? Did that inspire you to do your own thing?
Yeah. [The labels] weren’t coming down South
and getting artists, so everybody started trying to open they own labels and invest in they
own company. We kinda was learning off Cash
Money and Master P doing it at the time, trying
to learn the business, learning about production and getting your own producers. We was
learning how to get your checks, ID numbers,
bar codes, learning about distribution. I was
hiring people. I went out and got people for
different positions. I got in-house people that
do the production and started reading books
about the music business.
What was your first breakthrough song?
I had an indie album called Boss Playa, and we
had a song on there called “Birds Fly South For
the Winter.” We kinda popped that in 1997.
It went through Select-O-Hits distribution. We
put a lot of them in the stores that was around
in that area and we sold a lot of them out the
trunk.
Is that how you got the deal with Interscope?
Yeah, we dropped like three or four indie
albums and then an A&R from Interscope
heard about us - [Foxy Brown’s brother] Anton Marchand was in Alabama. They was coming down to the South looking for new artists
and he said his name was poppin’ up at every
spot. He ended up coming to Mississippi. At
that time, we was already functioning as a
company. We had an office, three wrapped vehicles, and we had just got done shooting two
indie videos. We had spent like 50k shooting
our own videos. It was already packaged. The
music was packaged. He saw that and he took
it back up top to the office with him. They
set up a meeting with him, we sat down with
Steve Stoute in L.A. I told him we was looking
for a label deal. We had already invested a
lot of our own money into our label, so he sat
down and got the terms together.
Why did the deal with Interscope fall
through? Do you feel like they didn’t understand the Southern market?
Nah, it wasn’t that. They came down, they
flew their whole staff down. They was real
open, asking what we need to do and different things like that. But it was some internal
problems within the urban department up
there with Steve Stoute. He was no longer
working up there, and he was the guy that
had brought our project in. He signed us, so
he was over the urban department. I think
after things went bad on his end or whatever, that’s the L.A. branch, they ain’t really wanna develop with whatever he had
brought in or whatever.
So you got a release from Interscope?
We got a release after a year and a
half. I ended up dropping this double
CD called Block 2 Block. I dropped it
indie, it was the first double CD out
of Mississippi. At this point, I look back at it as
an experience. It was a learning experience. It
kept me off my indie grind for two years. I coulda been going another direction, I coulda still
been consistent with my albums so that’s kinda
the only bad thing about it. People in Mississippi
might have looked at it as a let-down but they
don’t know the political side.
So at that point you kinda re-upped?
Yep. We got back on our grind and dropped the
double CD. During that period we’d recorded a
lot of music and we put it back on the streets.
We dropped that back home, and that’s when
this other situation came up with the guys in Miami, Royal Dollar Records.
What was the situation with Royal Dollar?
It was gonna be a situation where we go 50/50
on everything and we was going after distribution. We had a meeting with [J Records’] Clive
[Davis] three or four months after signing with
them. We had recorded a lot of music in Miami.
We took some of the music up there and he had
his staff up there. I ended up performing four
of the songs in front of the staff and at the end
of the performance, me and Clive sat down. We
took him the DVD too, we had about ten shows
on there from Alabama and Tennessee, you know,
the ones back home. We took the DVD footage so
they could get an idea of what we had going on
back home. We took the music back home and at
the end of the performance, Clive’s like, “Congratulations,” like we about to do business. I
worked out the terms with Royal Dollar and they
worked out the terms with J Records. That’s the
way it’s going right now, but I still got my label
and we still moving as one. 1 Live 1 Love. I still
got the Queen Boys and Gorilla Boy on my label,
and a production company also.
You’re affiliated with BMF, aren’t you? What’s
your opinion on Jeezy vs. Gucci Mane?
Like, Jeezy is my dude. Me and him go way back,
and one of the singles that’s on the album is with
him, it’s called “Miss Me With That Rap Shit.”
That’s one of the singles on the album. Me and
Jeezy go way back, like from when I first moved
to Atlanta. I moved to Atlanta when I got signed
to Interscope. I been knowing him and Coach
K for like seven years. As far as that situation
with Gucci Mane, I don’t know all the details.
I’m not involved with that shit.
Is your album finished?
For the most part, the album is complete.
We’ve got about two more songs to finish up.
Swizz Beatz just gave me another track, and after that we should be good. We just got off this
radio tour promoting that “Say It To My Face.”
I’m gonna put out a mix CD that’s got about
fourteen original songs, it’s called, Imagine The
Album. The album is called 1 Life 1 Love. We
just tryin’ to get all the promotional tools in for
Memorial weekend and hit these streets right.
We bout to hit the radio with this single called
“Feel So Good.” We’ve got production on there
from my dude Lil C. He’s my in-house producer,
and we’ve got my team on there, the Queen
Boys. I got Bleu Davinci, Mashonda, and Bun B
on there, and I’ve also got production from Cool
& Dre and David Banner.
You’ve lived in a lot of different places.
The thing about the South is that every region
got their own type of music. Louisiana got that
bounce, Texas got that chopped & screwed,
Atlanta’s on that crunk shit, and Memphis has
been on the same page with the crunk shit.
Do you think Mississippi needs its own sound?
That’s the thing with my in-house producer.
We’ve got our own sound. He did like ten tracks
on my album.
Is your song “Lost My Broad” a true story?
Yeah, that’s a true story right there. But I tried
to make it comical. Even though I lost her to
another chick, I still asked her if I come lay between them sometimes. That’s the hook. But
yeah, it’s a true story. There’s a lot of that going on right now.
- Photo & interview by Julia Beverly
OZONE JUNE 2005
13
01: JB, Sway, and Chino XL @ Night
Games (Boston, MA)
02: Slim Thug checks in with the
ladies (Houston, TX)
03: DJ Aspekt and the All Out crew
@ the Marlin (Miami, FL)
04: Mack-10 and friends on South
Beach (Miami, FL)
05: Slim and Tone @ Club Paris
(Orlando, FL)
06: Boy Wonder and Webbie @
The Underground (Tampa, FL)
07: DJ Buddha and Chubby
Chubb @ Night Games (Boston, MA)
08: Bushi Bashi @ Club Paris
(Orlando, FL)
09: DJ Ice-T and D-Nice @
10: Nicole Robinson and
Baby @ Hot 104.5 (New
Orleans, LA)
11: Wyclef and Mecca @
a Florida Marlin’s game
(Miami, FL)
12: Mike Sherman
interviewing Buggah D.
Govanah @ the On Point
offices (Miami, FL)
13: Mami Chula reppin’
OZONE (Atlanta, GA)
14: Bedo performing
@ House of Blues (Orlando, FL)
15: Gu and Paul Wall
on the set of “Sittin’
Sideways” (Houston,
TX)
16: Kano, Lil J, DJ
Chill, and Billy Cook
reppin’ OZONE (Houston, TX)
17: Trillville and Trick
Daddy @ Springfest (Miami, FL)
18: Three 6 Mafia and
Michael Watts on the
set of Frayser Boy’s “I
Got Dat Drank” (Houston, TX)
19: Paul Wall and fans
on the set of his video
for “Sittin’ Sidways”
(Houston, TX)
20: Slim Thug, D-Rocc,
and E-Feezy on South
Beach (Miami, FL)
21: Big Mook and
Bloodraw (Tampa, FL)
Photo Credits:
Big Mook: #21
DJ Aspekt: #03
J Lash: #04
Julia Beverly: #09,15,
16,17,18,20
Keadron Smith: #02,19
KG Mosley: #06
Malik Abdul: #01,05,07,
08,14
Marcus Jethro: #10
Marshall Smith: #13
On Point: #11,12
14
OZONE JUNE 2005
What’s going on, Bleek?
Ain’t nothing really going on except my new
album, 534. It’s coming out on May 17th. The
first single is “Tell Me If It’s Like That,” produced by Swizz Beatz. That’s all that’s really
goin’ on. Nothing else matters but the album,
so anything else in the world makes no sense.
We just shot the video for my single at the
40/40 Club, which is Jay-Z’s club. It’s on 25th
and Broadway, so if you ever wanna come by
when you’re in New York, holla back.
You’ve decided to stick with Jay during
the whole Roc-A-Fella situation, so what’s
your opinion on this whole “Dame vs. Jay”
thing?
Ain’t no “Dame vs. Jay.” That’s what needs
to be stopped. People need to stop making up
their own accusations. Where’s this coming
from, that they’ve got beef? Ain’t no beef. We
all rich. Who gon’ have beef when you rich?
Just stop making it a problem when it’s not,
that’s all I ask. Every writer, every interviewer, just stop makin’ bullshit up. Talk about reality and not what you want to see.
So everything’s all good. I noticed that on
the first single off your last album, you had
Trick Daddy and T.I. on there. Are you trying
to reach out to the Southern market?
Yeah, I wanted to try something different. I’ve
always been a big fan of Southern music, ever
since the days of Mystikal being an unsigned
underground artist. I just had the opportunity
to make a record like that and I knew T.I. for a
few years, I knew Trick for a few years, so being down in Miami I just wanted to put it down
and do something real. I wanted to change it
up instead of doing the same ol’ records all
the time. That’s why this time, I came back
with a high-energy record like I did. They’re
gonna say this is something different, but hey,
as long as it’s hot, it’s all gravy.
Are there any other features on your album?
Ain’t no other features besides M.O.P. and
Jay-Z. The rest of it’s basically just myself.
What about production?
As far as production, I’ve got Bink, Just Blaze,
9th Wonder, Irv Gotti, Swizz Beatz, and a few
new guys. That’s really about it right now.
You’re dropping your album at the same
time as the Young Gunz?
Yeah, we’re dropping about a week apart.
Those are my boys right there. I met them
when I first came out and they was about 15
or 16. I known them for a couple years and
I’ve seen them grow into what they’ve become now, so it’s a beautiful thing. My thing
was just to make sure the loyalty stays there,
cause there’s not too many groups that survive in this wonderful world of hip-hop.
That’s very true. Speaking of groups, what’s
going on with State Property?
I can’t comment on that, ma. Understand,
I’m not from Philly. I’m from Brooklyn. I
can’t even comment on that situation because I don’t really know what’s going on
with them.
Do you think this will be the album
that really blows you up?
Yeah, this is the breakthrough album.
This is the now-or-never album. If it
don’t happen now, I guess it might
never happen. I put my all into it, that’s why it’s
the do-or-die album. That’s why I named it 534.
That’s the building me and Jay-Z grew up in, in
Marcy, you know, it just represents a time when
we was struggling. We was hungry, you know?
Eatin’ sugar water and mayonnaise sandwiches
and stuff like that, so now I’m hungry all over.
So you’re on promo tour right now?
Yeah, we’re just going across the country promoting the record and letting people know when
it’s dropping. That’s really about it. I’m having
fun, you know? This is like my eighth year running around the world, and this time we gonna
do it different. Back then they didn’t want me,
now I’m hot, they all on me! Back then they
didn’t want me, now I’m hot, they all on me!
Back then they didn’t want me, now I’m hot,
they all on me! Back then they didn’t want me,
now I’m hot, they all on me!
Do you think coming out under someone like
Jay-Z is both a blessing and a curse for you?
Like, do you think people don’t take you as
seriously coming from under his shadow?
Nah, it’s a good thing. You don’t have to take
me seriously as long as I’m making good records.
Why would it matter if someone takes me seriously or not? You can say, “Hey, I don’t take
him seriously, but his record is still hot.” That
don’t make no sense to me. Being under Jay is
a beautiful thing to me. You get the opportunity to experience somebody selling five million
records and making hits every day, so you get
to learn how to do it. You sittin’ there watchin’
them do it, so now you know how to do it yourself. I seen Jay paint the picture making so
many records, so now it’s my opportunity to do
it myself even though it took a long time. But
still, me trying to repaint that picture that Jay
painted is like tryin’ to repaint a Michelangelo
painting. It’s hard.
You mentioned T.I. and Trick Daddy, but aside
from them, are there any other Southern rappers coming out now that you really want to
work with?
I’d like to work with Lil Scrappy, and definitely
Young Jeezy. I’ll definitely work with Young
Jeezy soon. Also, you should be lookin’ out for
B.G.’s new album because he’s got a secret
hit coming out called “What You Lookin’ At?”
You know, just the real dudes from down South
that really put it down. We’re talking about
the same thing, so I can relate to everything
they’re saying.
- Julia Beverly (photo: Eric Johnson)
OZONE JUNE 2005
15
16
(01) A purple light is used to give an eerie effect on Frayser Boy’s face.
(02) Mike Jones takes his turn under the purple light, showing off his
Swishahouse chain.
(03) The video models getting prepared for their scene.
(04) In this scene, Mike Jones introduces the white folks to that purple
drank.
(05) During lunch break, Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul puts on an impromptu
comedy show.
(06) In this scene, Three 6 Mafia enters the bar with a cooler full of
purple drank while the cowboy security guard looks on.
(07) The camera is hoisted above the bar for an overhead look into a
glass of purple drank.
(08) The camera crews head outside the Secondwind Saloon.
(09) Director John Tucker goes over the next scene with Mike Jones
and Paul Wall.
(01) It’s been a long time coming for Grandaddy Souf! Here we are
preparing for the first scene of the day.
(02) Grandaddy impatiently waits by the monitor for his cue.
(03) In the early morning sun, checking lighting is important.
(04) Grandaddy Souf, feeling right at home in his native Parramore,
shares a laugh with Get Cool.
(05) Zay, Mr. C, Grandaddy Souf, and Get Cool get their chance to
shine.
(06) Moving on to the next location, Get Cool enters Orlando nightclub fixture Heroes.
(07) Inside Heroes, Grandaddy Souf plans out the next scene with
director Christian Strickland.
(08) Christian makes sure the lighting set up is proper.
(09) Several video models preparing for their closeup inside the
club.
Director: John Tucker
Photos: Julia Beverly
Director: Christian Strickland
Photos: Spiff & JB
OZONE JUNE 2005
I hear there’s been some changes going on
with the whole Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam situation. Where do you guys stand?
Neef: We’re with Roc-A-Fella, with Jay. It’s us
and Bleek, we’re the first off the label. Our
album Brothers From Another comes out May
24th. The first single is by Swizz Beatz and the
second single is called “Don’t Keep Me Waiting” featuring Slim from 112.
How did you guys actually get initiated into
the Roc-A-Fella camp?
Neef: We ran into some cat that was taking
people up from Philly to New York, getting
them deals. He was taking people right to
the source. Forget the demo tapes, we was
way past that. This guy named Stevie G from
Southwest Philly, he took us up to a bunch of
people. He took us to Jay first. We was fuckin’
with him, we was comfortable cause he was a
real down-to-earth nigga. All of them - Dame,
Biggs, Jay. We wanted to do the deal then,
but we were so young. We were only like fourteen, and the managers we had was speakin’
some crazy numbers. Jay and them wasn’t
tryin’ to hear that.
You didn’t even have a demo?
Neef: We did all our stuff in the studio, but
we never had a demo package. I ain’t into all
that. I ain’t knockin’ nobody’s hustle or whatever, but I wasn’t into that.
How did you know each other?
Neef: I moved up from West Philly and met
Chris in the seventh grade.
Chris: Yeah, we met in middle school, and
that was right around the time we met Stevie G. He started shopping us around and we
felt most comfortable with Jay and them.
What do you think they saw in you?
Chris: We was young, talkin’ ahead of our
time.
Neef: We came out to step it up. We from
Philadelphia, man. Out there you gotta step
it up. You gotta get in where you fit in. That’s
the name of the label we got, it’s called
G.I.F.I. We on the road right now with our first
artist Pooda.
Chris: That’s Neef’s older brother.
So Def Jam actually bought out Roc-A-Fella?
Neef: It is what it is. Hov run the whole RocA-Fella right now and he’s president over Def
Jam, so we feel good right now. They holdin’
my back. Ain’t nobody gonna back us up there
like he is for us with whatever different types
of relationships he has.
Since he’s an artist himself, do you think he
understands you better?
Neef: Yeah, he understands what we go
through because he’s been there before. You
gotta go through shit to understand sometimes.
What’s your relationship with Dame at this
point?
Neef: Oh, yeah, we still holla at Dame. We
still go up there, kick it with him, holla at
him. Same shit, man.
What about the other artists that are
kinda in limbo right now?
Neef: Everybody doin’ they thing as far
as State Property. I know Peedi Crakk
and Freeway came to Jay. Oschino &
Sparks are still doin’ they thing, but
(l to r): Neef and Chris
I think they ain’t made up they decision yet. Everyone had the choice to go whichever way they
wanted to go. It was all love.
Were you a fan of Jay-Z before you met him?
Chris: Oh, yeah. No doubt.
Did it seem unreal when you met him?
Chris: We was happy to be there. We was straight
off the block, so we was just happy we had the
opportunity. We wasn’t going crazy, though.
Were you happy with the response to your last
album?
Chris: We was happy, but that ain’t what we
predicted or wanted. You know, everybody don’t
come out the gate and do what we did.
Did you go gold?
Neef: Yeah, that’s a hell of a stamp for us to
come out by ourselves. Nobody featured on none
of the singles, none of that. Just me and him.
That’s why we got a second chance.
Tell me a little about the recording of “Can’t
Stop, Won’t Stop.”
Chris: My man Ramsey brought us the beat, to
the office. We took it to the studio. We ain’t do
it like, thinking it was gonna be our single. We
just knocked it out and put it on a mixtape and
it picked up like that. My man DJ Enuff and Big
Vaughn from out West, they started spinning it
on their mixshows or whatever and it picked up
from there.
So when you recorded it, you had no idea it
was gonna blow up to become that big?
Neef: Nah. We were nominated for a Grammy
the first time around, so that was kinda crazy
for us. We took our mommas out to Cali, gettin’
them all dressed up and shit. You know, it feels
good to bring your mom to the pad and give her
the keys to the spot and all that.
You had a lot of female-oriented songs on the
last album. Should we expect more of the same
on Brothers From Another?
Neef: We got something for everybody.
Chris: The female songs were the singles. When
you hear the album, it’s too much gangsta shit
for the people.
Chris: You gotta put out more female-oriented singles, because women buy more albums.
That’s your look.
Neef: Niggas gonna follow the women every
time. Sometimes niggas don’t want to go to the
show, but you know, the bitches are gonna be at
the show. So that’s what you do. The hoes be in
the club goin’ all crazy, so the niggas are gonna
be goin’ crazy right with ‘em off in the spot.
Get it poppin’, ya know?
Are there any guest appearances on this album?
Chris: Yeah, we’ve got Jay on the album, Slim
on the second single, and our artist Pooda is on
two joints.
You know we have a section in OZONE called
“groupie confessions.” What do you think a
groupie would say about you?
Chris: They’d say, “Oh, Chris and Neef disrespectful. They ain’t how I thought I was.”
Neef: (laughing) Yo, that’s what this chick told
me last night.
Chris: They get to thinking we like that “Better
Love” shit, we flip the script on they asses.
Neef: They say they listen to our records, so
why don’t they know what’s goin’ on? We talk
about that all day. They say they listen to the
album, so they should know they supposed to
get busy. Shit, I got fans. If people love me and
wanna give me some special attention, then
that’s what’s good. If they wanna slob the knob
or somethin’, cool.
So do songs like “Better Love” come from
real life also?
Chris: Yeah, I went through that. Did that when
my baby moms was pregnant. I talk about both
my personal life and the game, but I gotta keep
business shit out of my personal life.
- Julia Beverly (photo: Eric Johnson)
OZONE JUNE 2005
17
18
(01) Here’s Gotti and Southstar, welcoming OZONE to the set of their
new video.
(02) A staffer prepares Smilez, Gotti, and Southstar for their first scene
of the day. Meanwhile, lighting equipment and cameras are being assembled.
(03) The cameras set up in front of the three, posed in front of a
Lambourghini.
(04) Southstar demonstrates the Lambourghini doors, while Smilez and
Gotti play the background.
(05) It’s gonna be a long day in the Florida sun. Southstar, Smilez, and
Gotti cool off with some bottled water.
(06) Gotti’s ready for his close up.
(07) Behind the scenes, models get ready for their scene.
(08) A group of video models relaxing by the pool in their bathing suits.
(09) DJ Prostyle’s ready for his cameo.
(01) On a brutally hot afternoon, a train of hot Texas rides assembles in a Houston parking lot.
(02) The cars line up under careful direction from production staff.
(03) With a crowd of screaming fans lining the sidewalk, filming the
car scene goes smoothly.
(04) Jim Jones rocking a pimped-out Gucci bike for his cameo.
(05) When Mike Jones pulls up on set, his Escalade gets swarmed
with autograph-seeking kids.
(06) After the second location, we move on to the hood, where Paul
Wall poses for pictures.
(07) As the sun sets, Big Pokey joins Paul Wall for the next shot.
(08) Director John Tucker offers some advice to Three 6 Mafia before
their cameo.
(09) More parking lot pimpin’ at the final location - the Konnections
parking lot.
Director: Joe Politics
Photos: Spiff
Director: John Tucker
Photos: Julia Beverly
OZONE JUNE 2005
What’s your relationship with DJ Clue and
Desert Storm South? I know you’ve been doing some work with them, and I even saw
you in New York with Clue.
Yeah, he been showing big love.
Clue actually said on MTV that he’s got an
artist out of Houston named Magno. Is that
true?
There hasn’t been no ink yet, but it’s basically
in the bag. I been working on my album and
everything, so it’s finna pop off. Wildlife/Desert Storm South. It’s kinda like a Dipset/RocA-Fella type situation. We just been working
together. I’ve been off in New York, putting
in work, recording. I’ve been in the studio
with Joe Budden, Stack Bundles, all those
cats. We’ve got a Desert Storm South mixtape
coming out soon with me, DJ Clue, and Clue’s
cousin DJ Storm, who also happens to live in
Houston.
Working so closely with New York artists,
do you think they really respect the music
or do you think they’re just looking at the
money y’all make down here?
A lot of people think you gotta rap exactly
like them for them to respect you, but when
I go to New York, I go with the same Southern
slang and my same rap style. A lot of people
say that my rap style is kinda East coast-ish
anyway. I resent that. I call it hip-hop. People
get it mixed up because hip-hop originated on
the East coast, but anyway, I call it just plain
spittin’ hip-hop. That’s what I do. I do Southern hip-hop.
Have you switched up your style since
you’ve been dealing with Desert Storm?
When I go up there I switch it up on them. I
rap my way and then I take ‘em down South
and get on the beat and body rock a little bit
and they be respecting it. They be like, “Man,
I love it how you switch it up like that.” I say,
“Man, they been doing stuff like that since I
was a little boy, man. Y’all need to get some
old Lil’ Keke tapes, some old Big Pokey tapes,
or something so y’all can know how we really do it back home.” They realize that the
Southern hip-hop we’re doing, the Screw music, isn’t just a genre. It’s an actual culture,
an actual lifestyle beyond the music. You see
our rims, elbows, the big grills on the car,
the 5th wheel, you pop the trunk and see the
neon lights with the speakers in it. Along with
the rappin’ there’s an actual culture with it.
When Paul Wall says “Sittin’ Sideways,” that’s
an actual culture.
What part of Houston are you from?
From that North. Greenspoint, a.k.a. Gunspoint, 56, know’m talkin’ ‘bout?
You and Mike Jones were a group for a
while. Did you already know him, or did
Swishahouse put you together?
Actually, it was both. I already knew Mike
Jones, we went to high school together. We
met in our freshman year at Nimitz High
School. We both played basketball. We both
was real good and we used to always play,
and that’s how we got cool. He ended
up moving to another high school and I
didn’t see him no more until he got with
the Swishahouse. I had only been with
Swishahouse about four weeks and [Michael] Watts was telling me they got
this new dude named Mike Jones. So
he comes in the studio and I’m like,
“Awwww, this nigga here? What it do fool? What’s
up man?” And he’s like, “Awww, you rap too?”
I didn’t even know he took rap that serious. I
knew he used to rap cause he used to do it in the
lunch room, but we both had hoop dreams. With
us both being on the label, we eventually made
a group out of it.
I thought it was a great combination because
your lyrics were pretty intricate. Nothing
against Mike Jones, but his lyrics are pretty
simple, so it was a great balance between the
two of y’all.
To be real, me and him could have been the next
UGK-type talent. I’m not putting our stuff up at
that level with them, but I think we could’ve
carried the torch because I listened to Bun a lot.
I like Pimp a whole lot too, but I always looked
up to Bun as one of the best. To this day, I still
say he ripped Jigga on “Big Pimpin’.” I just
looked up to him since I first met him. I was star
struck when I met Bun B, that was one of the
few people I’ve been star struck around. I was
like, “Man, this Bun!” And Mike Jones always
liked Pimp C. He reminds me of Pimp because
he’s real charismatic on the mic. He might not
rap like Pimp C, but he got a real charisma about
himself. Being real, as long as you got something
about you, that’s all that matters. We had a real
good chemistry, I ain’t gonna lie. We was always
able to catch ‘em on both ends.
What ended up happening between you and
Mike Jones? Why did you leave the Swishahouse, and why did you stop recording with
him?
Well, I kinda explained it on track 22 on the Newprint. It got to a point where we had dropped
First Round Draft Picks and it went good. To this
day, I’m still making nice money off that. A few
months after that, he dropped Ballin’ Underground, his first solo. And that took off. Anything
that was out then, it blew out the water. It did
so good he wanted to be a solo artist. But, we
had just dropped an album. How we gonna split
four months after our album? Our album hadn’t
even been out for half a year yet and we were
already gonna split up? He started doing shows
on his own, and I ended up having to find ways
to get my money my own way. I decided to drop
a mixtape with my brother under Wildlife Entertainment, my own company. Swishahouse
didn’t like that too much.
Why? Did they feel like you had went behind
their backs to make money on your own by
putting out your own mixtape?
It’s crazy, though, because I let them know I
was gonna do it. And Watts was actually behind me. Matter of fact, the songs I got for that
mixtape came from his CD bag. Even he can
vouch. He gave me his keys and said, “Go get
the CD bag out the car, you can pick whatever
songs you want, burn ‘em down and put ‘em on
your mixtape.” Then there was a rumor going
around that they got mad cause I tried to pass
it out as a Swishahouse CD. All I did was put my
picture on the cover cause I hosted it, and in
real small letters it said “hosted by Magno of
the Swishahouse.” The only reason I put that
on there is because Swishahouse is notorious
for having artists leave. Because the top of the
CD said Wildlife Entertainment, I didn’t want
people to think I was leaving Swishahouse. If I
hadn’t put “of the Swishahouse,” that would’ve
started rumors that I had left. I wanted to show
that I was still reppin’ the Swishahouse but I
was also doing my own thing. When the mixtape
came out, though, they had a fit and cut me
out. I thought that situation, and a lot of other
things that happened, coulda been handled a
lot better.
So when will we hear your album?
Well, the album Rookie of the Year is still coming soon. I’m thinking we may drop it sometime
in the first quarter of next year. Newprint 1.7
The Deleted Files is coming out, and that’s basically some songs that didn’t make the first one
and a whole slew of new ones. Then I’m gonna
drop the second part of the classic I dropped in
’03: Collection Plate Part 2.
- Matt Sonzala (photo: Mike Fresh)
OZONE JUNE 2005
19
“I’m just a young Haitian cat tryin
to pay off my student loans,” says
producer/entertainer Acafool. Usin
musical know-how combined with
g his
a heart to hustle, Acafool has crea
ted a movement to put entertain
back into music. And if the signa
ment
ture hat and the music don’t say
enough, he will tell you that the
movement is all about “going craz
Acafool
y, losing all inhibitions, and having
fun with music again.” This is evid
Acafool’s ode to financially unstable
ent in
women, “Hell No,” a song that is
burning up Florida airwaves than
the likes of notable DJs like H-Vi
ks to
dal, King JB, DJ Suicide, and Tedd
y T. The song, which boasts lines
a job hoe, cook, clean, suck dick
like “Get
, wash clothes” even comes com
plete with its very own “broke hoe
With his musical influences inclu
dance”.
ding his mother, Haitian (Kompa)
music, and artists like Special Ed,
Crew, Digital Underground, Outk
2 Live
ast, and Elvis, its no surprise that
Acafool’s music appeals to people
walks of life. But even after open
from all
ing for the likes of Lil Scrappy and
Ludacris, Acafool remains humble.
hard surrounding yourself with peop
“Its
le that you feel have your best
interest at heart, but I think the
we have built is one that is com
team
mitted to grinding in the face of
all
obst
do. “You can’t allow yourself to
acles.” And grind Acafool plans
get comfortable,” he says, explainin
to
g why his future plans include, actin
scoring for films, and creating adve
g,
rtising jingles. Until then, Acafool
plans to continue doing the brok
dance, wearing his signature hat
e hoe
while performing “Hell No” on stag
e with Zoe Face and the family.
ists like Acafool that remind us
Its artthat sometimes it’s okay to just
let go and act a damn fool. (con
728-1131 or 727-687-7803) – DJ
tact: 813Majick
handpicked by Jermaine Dupri, the newly
When you’re co-signed by The LOX, mentored by Camoflauge, and
roster, it’s easy to believe you’ve got the
Def
So
So
his
for
Music
Urban
Records
Virgin
appointed President of
the coach is behind you 100%,” assures
knowing
and
team
a
for
playing
winning formula. “There’s nothing like
basketball. His So So Def/Virgin
school
high
playing
T. Waters, a nickname Anthony Waters picked up while
likes of Jermaine Dupri, Red Spyda, Hi-Tek,
the
from
on
producti
boasts
year,
this
later
due
debut,
Records
addition to the high-quality production, the
Juicy J from Three 6 Mafia, and Denaun “Konartist” Porter. In
Click. The catchy first single “Throw’d
Gangsta
own
Waters’
and
LOX
album features collaborations with The
“I’m just trying to put together a clascountry.
the
ut
Off” is already buzzing on mixtapes and radio througho
uge was gunned down in May 2003
Camofla
rapper
after
changed
abruptly
life
His
Waters.
T.
says
sic album,”
to make something happen,” says
had
I
passed,
uge
Camofla
“When
studio.
g
recordin
in front of a Savannah
native Yonkers, T. Waters hooked
his
in
back
Once
City.
York
New
for
Waters. He left Savannah and headed
D-Block crew. With his unique
the
with
s
mixtape
back up with The LOX. He toured, recorded, and rocked
the country boy in the big city silenced
delivery,
lyrical
York
New
a
by
powered
slang
Southern
of
blend
into the right hands. After a chance meeting
competition. Meanwhile, T. Waters focused on getting his demo
make good music,” he explains. “Nobody’s
to
trying
just
“I’m
sealed.
with JD at a club, T. Waters’ fate was
or take it down. I want to build it up.”
pace
same
the
trying to start nothing. They just want to keep it at
Koslow
– Jessica
It’s simple. Like Jazze Pha says, “Y’all niggas talkin’, but me
and my niggas make it happen.” Diszwone
doesn’t sit around and wait - he makes it happen. Hard at work,
this Chicago MC is taking after hometown
artists like Do or Die and furthering the street-hop style. Not only
has Disz been influenced by veterans like
Do or Die, but he’s also been on tour with them. He’s also opened
for the likes of Tech Nine, Mobb Deep,
8Ball & MJG, Lil Flip, and many others. “I was performing too,
but when [8Ball & MJG] got on stage, I was
a fan my damn self,” Disz recalls. A product of Chicago’s deep
West side, Disz remembers his childhood.
“Man, I had to grow up fast. I was on my own since age eleven. The
music was always with me, but it wasn’t
paying the bills. The West side was real rough.” Using music to steer
his life’s course in the right direction,
Disz is now poised to release his debut album Illinoise Boy through
a joint venture with his label LMG and
Minnesota Timberwolves’ Troy Hudson’s label Nutty Boyz Entertai
nment. The album features other Chicago
artists like R Kelly and Twista as well as Lil Jon and the Ying Yang
Twins. Disz provided a significant portion
of the album’s production, proving himself as a double threat. To
hype up the album, Disz has been steadily
working the mixtape circuit and preparing to release one of his
own. Once the music game takes off, Disz
wants to get into acting, but says that he’s prepared to “take whateve
r comes in life.” If it wasn’t for the
music, Disz fears the worst. “Truthfully, if it wasn’t for the music,
I’d be in jail or dead by now,” he says.
Fortunately, neither is the case, as Disz is still alive and free to bless
the clubs with his singles like “Serrous.”
(contact: 312-829-4284 or [email protected]) – Rohit Loomba
How did you two meet?
Jim Jonsin: We both knew a group called Sons of
Sacrifice. He grew up with some of them. They had
signed to an indie label and I was doing production
with them. That’s how we both grew to respect
each other’s work.
Big D is the quiet one, I guess.
Jim Jonsin: Once you get to know him, he won’t
ever stop talking (laughing).
What are some of the singles you’ve produced?
Jim Jonsin: Trick Daddy’s “Let’s Go,” Pitbull’s
“Dammit Man,” and we did the majority of Pretty
Ricky’s album. In the past we’ve worked with Trina, and we have Twista’s new single coming out.
We did about four records on Bonecrusher’s new
album, including his single, and we have some
tracks on J-Kwon’s new album.
Is there anyone in particular you’ve really enjoyed working with?
Jim Jonsin: Probably one of the better vibes would
be Bonecrusher and Trick, but they’re all pretty
much cool. Trick Daddy is sort of portrayed in a
bad light sometimes so people come at him in a
certain way. They think he’s a thug. He grew up
like that, but he’s a reasonable dude.
Are there any wild studio sessions that come to
mind?
Jim Jonsin: We have a good time, definitely.
You’ve gotta come into one of our sessions. Some
are wild, and some are real chill. For the most
part they’re all interesting.
How do you think Miami fits into the music scene
these days?
Jim Jonsin: I think we’re right up there with the
best of ‘em. We have some big artists come out of
here. I think you could put us right up there with
Atlanta, New York, and L.A.
Pretty Ricky has come a long way.
Jim Jonsin: We’ve been working with them for
about seven years. I’ve known them since they
were kids, and they kinda grew up around me.
They’ve always worked hard to develop their
music. They were trying to get to that next
level. Now they’ve gotten there. I do feel good
about it. Whenever you do a record for an artist
that takes them to the next level, it feels good.
Everyone works hard to put an album together,
but when you land an artist’s single and it blows
up, it blows up both of you. That feels great.
Any plans to start your own label?
Jim Jonsin: Well, we both had our own labels,
but no more.I had a label called Paper Chasers
with White Dawg. We released his first actual
album.
Does Big D play the instruments for most of
your tracks?
Jim Jonsin: D plays about five instruments. I play
a little bit of keys. He plays all the guitars.
As a producer, do you tend to overanalyze
music too much? Is it hard for you to go out to
a club and have a good time?
Jim Jonsin: We used to find ourselves over-analyzing things a lot, but now we just kick back
and listen. As a producer you’re trying to figure
out how to win. You’re trying to figure out how
to get your records to pop off. Like, “Let’s Go”
was original and different. Everybody thought
we were imitating Lil Jon, but records like
“Let’s Go” and “Dammit Man” were actually
done before he even blew up. We never really
try to take ideas or study other people’s work,
but as a producer, I think you have to always be
listening. For the most part, we just love doing
music.
What projects are you working
on right now?
Jim Jonsin: We’re working on a rock
record for The Transplants, Travis
Barker’s group. He’s from Blink 182.
Big D: We’re trying to do more rock
music and R&B records.
Some producers have a lot of tracks
that sound similar. How do you keep a
variety?
Jim Jonsin: We can switch it up. The two
of us think totally differently, but when
we get together musically, it works. He’s
very soulful and comes from a gospel/R&B
background. I came from the roots of hiphop and rock. We approach records differently together than we would individually.
If you listen to records like “Dammit Man”
and “Grind On Me,” they’re totally different. We try not to get stuck on one sound.
The problem is that people always ask, “Can
we get a song like ‘Dammit Man’?” I think
that’s what happens to a lot of producers in
the business. The labels always want a track
that sounds like your last hit record.
Any advice for aspiring producers?
Jim Jonsin: Learn how to make your tracks
sound good quality. It’s very hard to sell a record when it doesn’t sound mixed properly.
That’s one of the keys. Interning; work with
some people who are doing things and learn
from experience. That’s how I learned.
Any new Miami artists we should look out
for?
Jim Jonsin: Look out for Rock Bottom, Tiffanie, Crystal, and Toe Jams.
Do you want to give out any contact info?
Jim Jonsin: 305-534-8158.
OZONE JUNE 2005
23
You used to DJ in Charleston, South Carolina,
and you recently moved to Tampa, Florida,
right? What brought about the move?
Well, basically, it’s all a blessing. My afternoon guy/MD named Stew was driving through
Charleston on his way to see family, and he
heard me on the radio and reached out to a mutual friend. They called me for an interview/audition so I drove down in my car and here I am.
Aren’t you syndicated in another state?
Yeah, in Kileen, Texas, on KIIZ. I’m doing on-air
nights and mixshow from 7-midnight.
Didn’t the Charleston station change formats
unexpectedly?
Yeah, around 4th of July weekend they switched
to a news/talk radio format. About a week later
I landed a job at the station across the street at
Hot 98.8 with my man B-Lord.
Do you have any short-term and long-term
goals for the future? Are you looking to move
up the ladder at radio or move into something
outside radio?
Truthfully, I don’t have any long-term goals. I’m
just rolling with this and letting the chips fall
where they may.
There haven’t been many artists come out of
the Carolinas. Why not?
Well, the truth is that many of the artists in
the Carolinas are very talented. But one of the
main issues I’ve noticed when doing radio and
clubs there is that many of the DJs don’t come
together and break their own hometown artists.
If niggas would stop hatin’ on one another and
try to come together as a whole, it would be
a movement. That pretty much goes for a lot
of the areas tryin’ to make some noise in the
game. The support amongst local artists and
DJs should build better relationships with each
other and break records.
How long have you been in the game as a DJ?
I’ve been doing the turntable thing for about 17
years, and I’ve been a professional on-air personality for about four years.
How does DJing at a club differ from DJing on
the radio?
The difference between club and radio is that in
a club you’re trying to make people dance, but
on the air you’re DJing for a listener who’s driving in their car. The transition has to be smooth.
There’s more mixing. When you’re in a club,
you’re pretty much just slamming shit.
How is the Florida scene different from South
Carolina?
In Charleston, they weren’t afraid to get crunk
and expand their minds on new music. They like
the classics like UGK and Pastor Troy. In Tampa,
they like more up-tempo party booty-shake
type stuff.
Was it easy to adapt?
Yeah, real easy. I just took a few steps back and
absorbed the new scene.
What’s the difference between mixing in Tampa and Texas?
As far as the mixes I’m doing, I try to keep them
as mainstream as possible so the music is familiar on both sides.
Have the people in Tampa been receptive to
you?
Oh, yeah, the love is incredible. I moved here
in September 2004 and I’ve had the #1 night
show in Tampa for two ratings books in every
demographics.
That’s amazing. That’s Michael Jordan stats.
Where can we find you in Tampa?
Club 112, Club Manila Thursday through Sunday,
and at various spots in Ybor City.
What separates you from the thousands of
other DJs out there?
For starters, my work ethic and consistency.
Many people dig the fact that I’m well-rounded
as both a DJ and an on-air personality. I can hold
down two airshifts and two mixshows on both
coasts, considering that I come from up North.
You don’t see that happen too often. It’s all a
blessing, and I’m thankful.
Why is it so hard for a lot of indie artists to get
their records played on the radio?
I’m so glad you asked! First off, a
lot of indies don’t know how to approach a DJ or a radio station Music
Director. It’s all about the relationships
you build with people. Most cats try to
go straight to radio with a single for it to
be broken. Radio is not the only way for
records to pop. That’s why I keep my ears
to the streets. There’s many cases where a
record will catch a street buzz long before
radio even gets their hands on it. It’s always
good to get that street and club buzz first. Let
the people and the DJs decide if your record
is hot. Look at cats like Master P, Cash Money,
and even my man Mike Jones. They’re a good
example of indies breaking in the streets first.
The people have to be behind you and support
what you’re doing. They’ve gotta believe in
you.
What’s the best way for an indie artist to approach a DJ like yourself?
The best way is just to be real. Have your shit
together, and make sure the presentation looks
and sounds official. Don’t come to the club with
a Fujifilm CD-R you just bought from CVS, with
no contact info or even the name of your song
on it. Be somewhat professional and courteous
when you approach your boy. A lot of cats feel
like you owe them something just because they
think their record is not. Don’t have that type
of attitude. Just be cool, that’s all.
Where should we look out for you next?
I just did two tapings for Rap City, and I have a
few mix CD collabos I’m working on. I’m working on an old-school hip-hop collabo with Iceberg Slim out of New York, and I’ve got a few
tapes in the works with B-Lord, Kaye Dunaway,
and DJ Christion who’s also out of Tampa.
Any shout outs?
Big shouts to everyone here at the station 95.7
The Beat in Tampa and Z92.3 in Kileen, Texas.
Turntable Assassins, Core DJs, Bum Squad DJs,
my kids, DJ Ran, David Banner, Russ Jones
at J Records, EP, Latin Prince, DJ B-Lord, TJ
Chapman, my little brother Science in Chester, PA, Acafool, The Bomb Squad. To all the
haters in my hometown of Reading, PA: grab
a nutsack and hold on tight!
VARIOUS ARTISTS
THE LONGEST YARD SOUNDTRACK
Derrty/Universal
B.G.
THE HEART OF THA STREETZ
Chopper City/Koch
MEMPHIS BLEEK
534
Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
As if Nelly hasn’t already conquered enough
media avenues, he’s taking his first shot at a
movie with tremendous mainstream appeal.
Ironically, the soundtrack doesn’t follow the
mainstream formula, featuring relatively
unknown artists like Chamillionaire (Houston),
216 (Cleveland), and Taylor Made (St. Louis).
Lil Wayne, T.I., Akon, and Trillville also make
appearances on the soundtrack. The single,
Nelly’s “Errtime,” which has been all over the
radio for the last month, features Jung Tru and
King Jacob of the group Taylor Made. It features
a typical Nelly catchy hook with his traditional
rap-sing flow. Surprisingly, Nelly is outshone
on his own track by Jung Tru. Even though he
took a page out of The Game’s handbook by
dropping a million names a verse, Jung’s verse
was clearly the highlight of this record (“I’m
Def’er than Jermaine, you could say I’m So So
/ Player taylor-made, that’s a no-no / Sure it’s
an Aftermath, but I ain’t a Doctor / Squad full
of B.G.’s, city full of them Choppas / Way more
Game than the kid with the G-Unit / Cracks by
the gram an hour, that’s a G-Unit / Like Ciara
when I’m keeping the Goodies / Cause I’m
Jazze like Pha with a tank in the hoodie.”).
This is the third solo full-length
album B.G. has dropped since his
departure from Cash Money – the
eighth full-length album in his illustrious career. This album is a dedication to the life that made B.G. into
the man he’s become. From the
beginning, he makes it clear that
this album is for the folks living the
street life for real. B.G. proclaims,
“A body can’t operate without a
heart, and I feel the streets can’t
operate without B.G.”
This album is supposed to signify a
return to his roots
(534 is the building where he grew
up). He finally gets
a chance to drop an
album without being
under the shadow
of other Roc-A-Fella
artists, namely his
mentor, Jay-Z. For
those reasons, I was
initially enthused at
the chance to hear
this album, especially
after hearing his
lead single “It’s Like
That,” produced by
Swizz Beatz. Just like
his first album, he
came out the gate
with a crazy club
joint that showed his
fire and hunger.
Aside from a few missteps, The Longest Yard is
one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in a long
time. It strays away from the usual formula and
shines the light on some up-and-comers.
The production on this album fits
B.G.’s slow N’awlins drawl perfectly.
But still, B.G. needs Mannie Fresh
more than he’s willing to admit.
Since his departure from Cash
Money, B.G. has failed to find the
extraordinary tracks he was once
privileged to receive. After two
disappointing releases, B.G. finally
gets some better production on this
album, making it the perfect addition to your B.G. collection.
I had such high hopes
for this album. In all
the interviews leading up to its released,
Bleek sounded like
a rapper looking for
redemption, ready
to claim the throne
Hova left him. But
that’s pretty much
been the case with
every album he’s
dropped, and it’s always ended with the
same results: a solid,
yet mediocre, album.
This is no exception.
534 is sold, with
songs for every demographic, but there’s
nothing that stands
out. Bleek’s rhymes
occasionally show
tenacity, but for the
most part it sounds
like he’s still stuck in
1998. Bleek needs to
step up his creativity
if he wants to move
out of the President’s
shadow.
- Wally Sparks
- Wally Sparks
- Wally Sparks
St. Lunatics Murphy Lee and Ali are represented
well on the soundtrack with “Stomp” and “Let
‘Em Fight,” featuring Big Gipp of the Goodie
Mob. Aside from my T.I. bias, the hottest song
on this album is by far Chamillionaire’s “Talkin’
That Talk,” with production and a feature from
David Banner. With Cham’s solo release fast
approaching, this track is a perfect introduction for him to a mainstream audience. Banner
killed the beat and Chamillionaire, as usual,
steps his game up and delivers lyrically. One of
the most interesting pairings on this soundtrack
is the Nelly and WC collabo, “Whip Yo’ Ass.” WC
brings an energy that hasn’t been heard since
Westside Connection’s first album.
With such heat coming from the first eleven
tracks, D12’s “My Balls” never should have
made the cut for this soundtrack. Eminem
needs to stop trying to produce. This song
doesn’t even fit with the rest of the album.
Nelly’s “Fly Away,” a dedication to the brothers
locked down, seems out of place as well, but
I’m sure it will be #1 on TRL soon thanks to his
singing.
28
Artistically, B.G. hasn’t changed
since his introduction to the rap
world. His vivid imagery and gritty
edge has contributed to his success
and helped him develop his strong
fan base. The Heart Of Tha Streetz
finds B.G. staying focused and hungry. “On Tha Block” is a vintage B.G.
cut that rekindles the edginess of his
previous Cash Money releases. Over
bass-heavy production, B.G. delivers
tales so vivid you’ll be picturing
yourself on the middle of the block
alongside him. On “Do That Shit,”
B.G. addresses a variety of issues,
including baby mama drama and
the murder of Soulja Slim. At times,
his tales of street operations grow
monotonous, but B.G.’s hypnotizing
voice makes for an easy listen. He
even addresses this monotony on
the joint “Same Ol’ Shit,” featuring a potent verse from his younger
brother Hakim and the rest of the
Chopper City Boyz over a gangstaass drum pattern. The lead single
“Where They At” featuring Homebwoi is dope, and “Work Dat Ass,”
featuring 5th Ward Weebie, brings
the bounce to the clubs.
OZONE JUNE 2005
YOUNG GUNZ
BROTHERS FROM ANOTHER
Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
In the middle of a transition period that some
would refer to as the
“death of a dynasty,”
releasing an album that
has “sophomore jinx”
written all over it sounds
difficult to overcome.
However, the Young Gunz
attempt to avoid all that
negative speculation
and keep the diamond
high on Brothers From
Another.
Like most new rap
releases, the Young Gunz
spend much of the CD
regurgitating the same
ol’ shit about hip-hop’s
current favorite subjects: money, cash, hoes,
and do-not-attempt-totest-me-and-my-squad
rhymes. Neither one has
progressed much lyrically
since they’re freshman
debut Tough Love, but
I’m still more of a Young
Chris fan. He’s sharp,
quick, and fluid with his
rhymes, while Neef has
sort of a punchy flow.
The 112-assisted second
single, “Don’t Keep Me
Waiting,” has the makings of a hit radio single,
as well as the other radio
joint, “Don’t Stop (YG
Party).”
Another standout record
is “Grown Man Part 2,”
with Kanye West and
John Legend, who make
the Gunnaz sound like
guests on their own song.
It’s basically a call out to
all the grown and sexy
women. Overall, there
are plenty of hot-rightnow, whack-two-yearsfrom-now type songs on
this album for the young
fans, but not enough
substance.
- Wally Sparks
01: DJ Greg G “Street Heat Vol. 10” [email protected] Orlando,
FL
02: Chilly C “Meltdown 2: The R&B Edition” 228-474-2796 or [email protected] Moss Point, MS
03: DJ Knucklez “Knuckle Up” [email protected]
04: Brandi Garcia (hosted by Stat Quo) “Southern Stilettos 2” www.BrandiGarcia.com 256-479-1322 Athens, AL
05: DJ Mars & DJ Bobby Black “Street Certified Vol. 1” www.BigC
atRecords.net Atlanta, GA
06: DJ Rondevu “Knights of the Roundtable: Vol 4” www.DJRondevu.com NYC
07: DJ Mr. King “Respect Royalty Vol. 1” [email protected]
330-701-8327
08: DJ Headbussa (hosted by Anthony Rozier) “Krank Up ” 813-924-4229 [email protected] Tampa, FL
09: Evil Empire “Be South Episode III: Revenge of the South” EvBoogie@
tmail.com 914-799-0283 NYC
10: DJ Chuck T (hosted by B.G.) “Dirty South Class of 2K5: Late Registration” [email protected] Charleston, SC
11: DJ Jukebox (hosted by Stat Quo) “Strictly South Vol. 3” www.Plan
etJukebox.com 205-447-6382
12: DJ Folk “Deep N Da Game 2: The Setup” 216-798-2480 [email protected]
13: DJ Tecneek “The Kidd Is Back Part One” 407-246-4534 www.Exto
rtionEnt.com Orlando, FL
14: DJ Walgee & DJ Point Blanc “Street Gossip” 305-772-1238 www.StreetGossipEnt.com FL
15: DJ Suggablack “Street Radio Vol. 2” www.DJSuggablack.com
Tallahassee, FL
Mitchell Boy
“Audio Narcotics 5:
When the Southern Smoke Clears”
407-697-5986
www.mitchellboyentertainment.com
Hot tracks:
#01 - Play N Skillz “Do Ya Thing”
#15 - Ying Yang Twins f/ Mike Jones “Badd”
#17 - Lil Scrappy “That’s It”
#19 - T.I. “Set It Out”
#27 - David Banner “Play”
#29 - Tango Redd f/ Lloyd “Let’s Cheat”
16: DJ Tommy Ill “Ridaz & Rollaz Vol. 2.1” [email protected] Orlando, FL
17: DJ Scorpio “Optimum II” 404-581-0855 MasterMindMusic@h
otmail.com Atlanta, GA
18: DJ Mr. Izm & DJ Twisted “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fiyah!” [email protected] Tampa, FL
19: Pimp G “Crunk City Kings Spring Break Edition” 904-536-6122
Jacksonville, FL
20: Hurricane Foss (hosted by Stat Quo) [email protected] or 407-729-2805 Kissimmee, FL
OZONE JUNE 2005
29
Disclaimer: I really hate giving movies a rating, because sometimes I start liking them more or less later. I may come back next month and recant
something after I see a movie again. I’m the same way about music. Sometimes you don’t get it the first time.
STAR WARS
EPISODE III:
RETURN OF THE SITH
This is a prequel to the
original Star Wars that
we grew up with. What
makes this movie so
interesting is that they
show how Darth Vader
came to be.
I really liked this movie because It has so
many implications into
what’s going on in today’s world. It shows
how greed, ego, and
love can drive a person to become something
that they never planned on becoming. As I
watched this movie, I saw so many parallels
in myself and other people around me. People claim to be good, but you never know if
someone is truly good until they don’t have
to be. When they have money, power, and
fame, that’s when you really see if a person is good. When they don’t have nothing,
you really can’t tell. Darth Vader was supposed to have been the chosen one, and a
person that had influence over him actually
pimped him into becoming something he’d
fought against all his life. It’s strange. It’s
like, once you cross over to that other side,
it’s too late.
Of course, you can’t compete with the
graphics in Star Wars. Without even digging
deeper into the story line, it’s a great movie
visually and sonically. And for the first time
ever, they had more than one black person
in the movie that wasn’t a monster. I saw a
couple of black people just walking around,
so that made me feel a little better.
To me, the Star Wars before this sucked.
Yoda was the only thing in the last Star Wars
movie that made it even digestible. But this
one, I love the story line. It hit a little closer
to me, because every day it seems like I try to
balance good and bad. People think it’s easy
to be one or the other but it’s not. Some of
the most evil people are the ones who used
to be good, because they know how to manipulate both sides. That’s the story of Darth
Vader. You always have to analyze yourself
and your soul. People always think they’re
good and never analyze whether they may
be going down the wrong path.
30
OZONE JUNE 2005
xXx:
STATE OF
THE UNION
The first xXx
got murdered,
so they had
to hire a new
xXx; a more
extreme xXx.
This is the
sequel. One
of my criticisms about
this movie has
nothing to do
with the actual movie, but
it has to be said. I was upset that the
star of this movie happened to be a
black guy and they chose not to put
his face out there. Notice that all
the marketing for this movie didn’t
have nobody’s face on it. I was sort
of taken aback at the fact that they
had Ice Cube as the star of the movie but didn’t promote him. To me,
that was sort of insulting.
The story line is that one of the army
officials is plotting to murder the
President and set up the guy that’s
over the Special Ops team. Basically, the movie is the unfolding of this
guy’s plot. It’s a lot of cars blowing
up and shooting. The graphics are
cool, but I don’t think they were as
good as the first one. It was a decent
movie, I guess. They quoted a lot of
Tupac, so that was a plus.
I was impressed with Ice Cube in this
movie. I’m a big Ice Cube fan, I just
didn’t like the way they handled him
as far as promoting the movie. Samuel Jackson and Xzibit were in the
movie, too. That’s the first time I’ve
seen Xzibit acting in an A-movie. He
did a really good job.
The story line was kinda whack to
me. It didn’t flow well; it was choppy. I wasn’t really able to connect
with the characters. But, if you like
to see fast cars and things blowing
up, it’s a top-of-the-line DVD movie
to watch at home. They had some of
the tightest cars ever in this movie.
CHAPPELLE’S SHOW:
SEASON 2 UNCENSORED
I would like to start off this review by
saying, “It’s a celebration, bitches!”
The second season of the Chappelle
Show has finally come out. The first
season actually got us through the Baptized in Dirty Water promo run – that
and Family Guy. We watched it, like,
the whole time, so of course I’m gonna
give this 5 out of 5 just because of the
effect it’s had on both white culture
and black culture. He had everybody
sittin’ around saying “WHAT!!!!!???”
and “I’m Rick James, bitch!” and “It’s
a celebration, bitches!”
I would love it if Dave made me into a character on his show.
[Lil] Jon was telling me how much it had helped his career.
My character would be horrible, but he’d still be educated.
He’d be like, “To whoop, or not to whoop your ass. That is
the question.” But, he even said it on his show – he hates for
people to walk up to him and give him ideas. It’s up to me to
put myself in a position where he has to spoof me.
To be honest, I didn’t know I had missed so many episodes. I
know it’s corny, but my favorite skit is Rick James. Being an
entertainer, I see some of the things that people’s favorite
artists do that the public would never know about. To be able
to see the background scenes of Rick James’ career, it’s just
crazy. It’s strange how God works. Right after Rick James
was making a turnaround, we were able to get so much new
footage of him through the Chappelle Show before he passed
away. That was a blessing, because a lot of times we don’t
get to see the last glimpses of the stars that we loved so
much. That was monumental, in a way. The Chappelle Show
can be like a time capsule; a memorial to a great artist. I
liked the crack head a whole lot, too.
It seems like every twenty years, you have that marquee
comedian that touches the world in a special way. A lot of
them use the opportunity to bring social issues to light. We
laugh at Dave Chappelle, but if you look deeper, he has a lot
to say. There’s a lot of social commentary in his jokes. It’s
just like Richard Pryor. When I became a man, I went back
and listened to Richard Pryor’s shit. That man was as deep or
deeper than Malcolm X, but people never noticed.
I think if we dig deeper into the Chappelle Show, we’ll see
a lot of things we need to address seriously – for example,
how black people have been treated throughout history
and how we’re viewed today. It’s just like what I’m trying to do with my music. He’s doing a better job than I
am, though, because he’s making people laugh. People
are laughing and enjoying something that’s so painful.
It’s a celebration, bitches! As a side note, I’m glad he
made them white folks pay him his money.
Do you want to introduce yourselves?
Kashus DeNiro: Yeah, we like a super group.
I trained these guys for over ten years. If you
look at the foundation of rap in my city, Jacksonville, Florida, there was only three people
around in the early 90s doing this rap shit: Shot
Out, and Billy Rankin from Cool Runnings, who
is like the supreme being of this bitch. I been
with Cool Runnings since we was on The Avenue
and bangin’ on the walls. Back then it was just
a feeling. And there was the Pimp Coalition. For
a ten year period we’ve been tortured and tormented. That’s who we are.
Who are the other members of the group?
Kashus DeNiro: Da Hogg, the Hottest O.G., and
Skid Rock, the hard core enforcer of the group.
The laid-back gangsta. We on the block right
now, that’s how we live. Then we’ve got Joe
Blade, he’s like the overseer who makes sure
everything stays in check.
How did you meet Kashus?
Skid Rock: We actually met and started rapping
around 1990. I been putting my thing down for
about fifteen years now. He’s like my best friend
in the world.
Joe Blade: We was hustlin’ together and we kinda bonded a lil’ bit. We been down ever since
then, we’ve done a lot of dirt together. We’ve
been rapping together for about twelve years.
I had left for a little bit, but he kinda bred me
into doing this.
Hottest O.G.: A partner of mine was working
with them and he took me up to the studio.
We had a lil’ session and they let me ride on a
track a lil’ bit. Ever since then we’ve been doing shows and working hard together.
Describe Tortured Young Souls.
Skid Rock: We’re similar to the Wu: it’s actually
four members of the group, but it’s a lot of cats
that’s affiliated. Like a family.
Kashus DeNiro: We’re the 2005 Southern WuTang. That’s what I always dreamed of and
achieved. There’s more members on the album
cause we run so deep, but these are my front
line soldiers that I’m running with right now. I’m
just like a tyrant, man, I’m hungry. It’s like my
city. Nigga, I founded this shit! I been around a
long time. Ask them O.G.’s. Real niggas stand
up and stand together. It’s like the modern-day
Babylon. To grow up here and still be alive in
this bitch is an accomplishment. If you still alive
in this bitch, you a soldier. It’s ugly here in Jacksonville.
What’s the name of your label?
Skid Rock: Archangels Alumni. We live and die
for that, no doubt. We’re gonna put out an album called Real Nigga Rap Vol. 1. At first it’s
gonna be a group album, then we gonna branch
off into our own careers.
Joe Blade: Kash comin’ out with his solo album and mine is gonna be coming in a couple
months.
Who are your influences?
Skid Rock: I been on music from a long time ago.
I used to listen to EPMD, KRS-One, Kool G Rap,
all the old school rappers. I just love music in
general. I really wouldn’t want to compare my
style to anybody. I’m different. I got Southern
slang, I’m spittin’ trap music all day.
Joe Blade: I don’t sound like nobody. We gonna
change the whole game when we come out.
There’s a lot of rappers right now that shouldn’t
be making no money.
Hottest O.G.: I’m kinda wild. I get to feeling
the track and I just hit it as hard as I can. I
might pop all over something. I might just get
all stupid on it, then I can just lay back and
chill. I’m pretty versatile. I can jump on anything and stick out like a sore thumb.
Kashus DeNiro: Yeah, I’ve gotta plug the album: Real Nigga Rap Volume 1. Look out for
the mixtape hosted by Bigga Rankin too. Shouts
to Dereck Washington, James Daley, Decap, MGeezy, Rain, Wayne the Wonder Kid, 92.7 The
Beat, T-Roy and Easy E, Kartouche, Psycster
(the man that made the motion picture), J-Baby
of City Limit Gear, and Orain Benjamin. If I left
you out, I’ll catch you in the next one cause it’s
gonna be plenty more.
6
2
Venue: Perfect Rack Billiards
Location: Houston, TX
Date: May 16th, 2005
“Fifth Ward! Fifth Ward muthafuckers!” And the crowd goes
crazy! Bushwick Bill is on stage,
hyping the crowd. From the earsplitting noise, it sounds like you’re
in an arena, but in reality, the Geto
Boys are doing an impromptu concert
at a small pool hall.
A pool hall, you ask? Not Scarface, Willie D, and Bushwick Bill? Most groups as
popular as the Geto Boys won’t do small
venues, especially not a pool hall. But
as Willie D announces later, “It doesn’t
matter where they want us to perform as
long as Texas wants us to perform! We’ll
do it any where, any place, any time!”
1
The music drops, but there’s a problem.
No Willie D, no Scarface. Bushwick is
alone, repeatedly telling the crowd to
be patient. The crowd gets worried, and
Bushwick is on the mic, literally pleading
with the other group members to join him
on stage. “They love us,” he begs.
Confusion is in the air. Are the other members making sure the appearance fee is
paid? Is there a problem with the music?
Or maybe it’s intentional, and they’re
just building anticipation? Bill is acting
a little confused himself, not to mention
very inebriated and a little wobbly.
4
Finally, Willie D and Scarface hit the stage
(1) and all hell breaks loose. The crowd
goes super crazy. The Geto Boys are on
stage together, all three of them (2), ripping through new songs and old songs with
the greatest of ease like a veteran rap
group is supposed to. The energy is high in
the room, but the four-foot gap between
the stage and the barricaded crowd is impeding their chemistry. Willie D instructs
the police officers to move the barricades
and let the people come closer.
5
3
7
8
The three take turns ripping through
solo tracks and serving as each other’s
hype men. Bushwick Bill’s constant dancing and strange facial expressions are
always amusing, but why did he lay flat
on the stage while Scarface and Willie D
performed? Fortunately, he was able to
get back up in time (3) to take over the
stage and do his alter ego Chucky. He also
dropped his pants and performed an odd
striptease for the women in the front row
(4).
Willie D’s stage presence is powerful (5).
He commands attention with his hard core
flows. And it’s easy to see why Scarface
(6) ranks among the top lyricists of all
time; his knowledge of politics, women,
suffering, and empowerment makes you
listen and understand. Rap-A-Lot CEO J
Prince oversaw the entire performance
from the back of the stage (7). In Texas,
no matter whether they’re performing in
an arena or a pool hall, the Geto Boys are
still Houston’s favorite (8).
- Malik Abdul (photos: Julia Beverly)
OZONE JUNE 2005
33

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