Freekey Zeekey has always made a big splash in the rap game, and suddenly he was out. Just like G-Unit and Tony Yayo, the crew still built a palace of fame and recognition waiting for Zeke on the outside. In the midst of his time on Riker’s Island, AllHipHop penetrated the correctional facility to get a preview on what transpired, what’s about to happen, and what the rap game looks like as seen through iron bars. Check it. AllHipHop.com: There’s been some speculation, what actually got you locked up? Zeke: Being distrusted by someone who was loyal for over seven years. Jada said it correct [in “Why”] when he said talking [snitching] is at an all-time high. AllHipHop.com: All the young dudes out there that think its cool to be in jail, like it’s a merit badge, let ‘em know what’s up. Zeke: Jail is a piece of sh*t! You’re out of you’re element like a fish out of water. Plus it’s only a handful of real motherf**kers up in here, everyone else is a d*ckhead or h###. Nobody is really making major moves anymore.. To make a long story short, I’d rather be dead. They stop building real n#####, back in the days when you got locked you ran into another major n####, now 98% of these n##### are looking for handout AllHipHop.com: With all the turmoil in America, did you expect the backlash from your crew the Taliban? Zeke: We expected the backlash, but not to the extent where they were going to try and shelf the Diplomat album. They tried to shelf us because of certain lyrics, the first title of the album (which was Ground Zero) and the cover picture (which had us in the middle of the fallen towers.) I personally felt that we were expressing our frustration and sorrow for the devastating tragedy that occurred September 11th, 2001. A tremendous number of families are still in shambles. We are not rebelling. The Diplomats are pro-USA. The Taliban crew came about to settle a group of individuals that were going stone ape. We gave them jobs so they could challenge their erratic energy into something positive. AllHipHip.com: How do you manage to stay focused on the inside while Dipset is handling matters on the outside and blowing up? Zeke: Staying focused is second nature. You have to be on point at all times. We’re living in a world where anything is subject to happen at any given second. As for business, I’m not worried. Cam and Jimmy have excellent judgment for investments. I’m also handling my B.I., don’t think the bars slow the kid down. I’m setting up a Dipset Concert with the Deputy as we speak. Blowing up is a good thing; the more the label excels the better my profits become. I’m not only a client; I’m also the President, chea! AllHipHop.com: There have been gangs and all kinds of stuff inspired by Dipset. What are your feelings on that? Zeke: Dipset hasn’t inspired gangs; gangs were formed long before my pops wanted to do the nasty with my moms. “We don’t bang, we write the good rhymes” [as Ice Cube rhymed]. What we did inspire was a slew of people who thought the streets were their career, and we helped them realize that there is another way out, not only through Rap either. They saw us flip clothes, cologne, liquors, car services, acting, directing videos, etc. I would tell you more, but I’m high and tipsy. Oh Yeah, and Real Estate. AllHipHop.com: if there were one thing about your life you could take back, what would it be? Zeke: The one thing I would take back is having my man E (Eric Mangrum R.I.P.) in the wrong place at the wrong time, which led to his last day. Shout out to his daughter, when I get out, I got you. Wish it coulda been sooner, don’t worry the Lord works in mysterious easy, Lil Mama. Plus everything happens for a reason. Everything else I would leave the same, the trials and tribulations I’ve been through didn’t do anything, but make me stronger. AllHipHop.com: Critics have said that your crew’s music promotes ignorance. What is your view on that? Zeke: Of course you’re going to hear negative feedback from critics, that comes with the job. This may sound twisted, but the more the haters arise, the more wealthier and more popular you become, and we have over a million haters. Shout out to all the ignorance, it keeps the bars coming! AllHipHop.com: What went down in Philly last year? There was a big rumble that went down at a show. Zeke: What happened out there is what would happen to anybody that crosses the line. Someone threw a bottle cap at [Cam]. He sent Black, Brit (aka Buddy Lee) and Snagz into the audience (which was over 15,000) to handle things. Once it got outta hand he told me to go out there and knock n*ggas out, which I did. I’m not gonna front I like s### like that. Reppin’ with your n*ggas who get it poppin’ is the s**t. Dip Set, b*tch! Shout to Smack DVD, they’re doing their thing, plus they Dipset, they helped out fans understand that we just don’t talk it, We live it! AllHipHop.com: A little history lesson…what is the origin of your affiliation with Cam and Jim Jones? How did ya’ll hook up? Zeke: The affiliation is more of a family origin we all knew each other for over 15 years. I met Jim in the third Grade, we both was trying to pick pocket the same kid. He got some out of one pocket and I got the rest from the other pocket, we put the money together and after school we bought a slice and a soda. Cam and Jim already knew each other. We all met up and the rest is history. AllHipHop.com: How cohesive is the Dipset as a unit? Ho w unified […]

Brand Nubian: Fire In The Soul By Topher Sanders It’s been more than half a decade since we’ve heard from Lord Jamar, Sadat X, Alamo, and Grand Puba as the collective Brand Nubian. In that time, the quartet has kept busy with solo projects, acting, and simply being family men. Now signed to Babygrande Records, Brand Nubian is prepped to reintroduce the industry to a cohesive quality lost in the age of obsessive guest spots and trendy production techniques. Here, Brand Nubian speaks with Allhiphop.com about their new album while firing some venom at the media for helping to perpetuate negative stereotypes about minority fathers. AllHipHop.com: Was it difficult to get Brand Nubian back together. Jamar: No not at all, that happen a while ago, like 96’ or 97’ and we recorded a whole album’s worth of stuff that never came out. Puba: Ya know the whole thing wasn’t something that was that dramatic; like we was never gonna speak to each other again. It was more that people had different things they wanted to do. So we tried new things and came back together when the time was right. It wasn’t like we had to sit down and say, “Man, let’s get back together.’ It was a natural thing that just happened. AllHipHop.com: Why do you think hip hop groups seem to have such a problem staying together? Puba: That’s kind of a hard question, ‘cause we can only speak about our situation. Jamar: Black people as a whole have a problem sticking together, so why would you expect some rap groups to be different than society. Sadat: Yeah, that’s like back to the Temptations. AllHipHop.com: There was always a distinct attitude to each record in your catalog. What’s the theme on this album? Jamar: It’s got different themes. It has a real optimistic theme, we got regular relationship themes about men and women, just classic Brand Nubian stuff. We got some science type joints, we got a joint called “Soldier Story” that deals with street soldiering. AllHipHop.com: Again, Brand Nu helped defined the love track in Hip-Hop. Is there an update to the saga? Sadat: Definitely, It’s called “Always be Mine.” AllHipHop.com: On Foundation, you brought in Premier. Diamond and Dante Ross were always big players in your sound too. What’s the production bill look like now that you’re on an Indie? Jamar: I did most of the joints and Alamo did like two tracks, we just kept it in the family. We’ve given the album a nice cohesive sound. AllHipHop.com: That cohesiveness can be absent from a lot of hip hop albums. Jamar: Yeah, ‘cause everybody is just making a bunch of singles, they’re not making albums. They are not making their own sounds, they’re using other peoples sounds. See when you listen to a Brand Nubian album or a Tribe album or a Public Enemy joint, you are being brought into our world. Whereas a lot of these other dudes are just going into somebody else’s world, they’re not creating a world, they are just existing. AllHipHop.com: Does being on a label like Babygrande do anything for Brand Nubian? Jamar: It does a lot for Brand Nubian. Babygrande gives us more control over everything, it takes away the major label pressure and bulls**t. AllHipHop.com: What kind of pressure? Jamar: If you don’t sell platinum, you ain’t making no real paper. On an independent label, we sell what we’ve been selling and we straight. AllHipHop.com: Puba, you always use to have a crazy car featured on your albums, you got something new you playing with? Puba: Yeah, I’m about to play with that QX56 Infinity truck. AllHipHop.com: You gona do something special to it? Puba: Nah, I’m a grown man now, I’m going to keep it pretty much basic. I’ll put some bigger wheels on it, but not chrome. AllHipHop.com: Speaking of being a grown man, all of you are fathers right? All: Yeah AllHipHop.com: Well, it seems that everyday you hear something about how minority men aren’t taking care of their families, what do you think we can do to reverse that trend? Jamar: You know I think that’s some media bulls**t right there, ‘cause I know mad dudes that take care of their kids. I know dudes that are taking care of kids that are not even theirs. I think that some s**t they put in the media to black males in a certain way. Yeah there some people who don’t take care of children, but people that I personally know, they do take care of their kids. Sadat: S**t, you’re looked at as a fool if don’t. Jamar: Exactly. In the world I live in, and I don’t think I live in a strange world, that s**t that their talking about is not the norm. Most of the cats our age grew up without fathers, so they know what it’s like, so they ain’t trying to do that s**t to they kids. AllHipHop.com: What’s the title of the new Album? Jamar: Fire in the Hole AllHipHop.com: What’s that about? Jamar: Fire in the Hole. That’s what you say when you drop and grenade right before it blows. The music is fire. AllHipHop.com: What can we expect musically? Puba: Classic Brand Nubian s**t, just upgraded. Jamar: It’s the same, aint’ nothing changed, it’s standard Brand Nubian. You still going to hear science and knowledge and certain comments of a political nature. AllHipHop.com: I heard about a possible Nas collaboration, did that ever happen? Puba: Nah, that didn’t end up happening, schedules conflicted. Maybe in the future, a remix or something like that. AllHipHop.com: Speaking of politics are you gonna vote this year? Jamar: Man. Ya know, I don’t think so man. I’m almost tempted to because of Bush and all that. But I’ve never really been into it like that, that sort of politics where I’m trying to work within the system in that kind of way. They’ve proven that your vote doesn’t count. I […]

To have Shyne tell it, he learned quite a bit during his truncated stint as Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs protégée. Perhaps, the Bad Boy mantra, “We won’t stop” is an appropriate motif for Jamal “Shyne”Barrow’s life. The last four years of his young life, Shyne has made the Clinton Correctional Facility his home after being convicted for his role in a 1999 shooting. Since the altercation, he has maintained his innocence and his silence – until recently. From the Dannemora, New York jail, Shyne secured a record label, through Def Jam and signed himself, a deal worth a reported $3 million. During his time away, Shyne’s allure and mystique has only grown as have his legions of fans. All of the aforementioned attributes have culminated as Godfather Buried Alive, his first set since his self-titled debut in 2000. Scheduled for a release no later than 2009, Shyne is banking he will be out with a bit of trust in a higher power and the worldly help of Harvard law professor and lawyer Charles Ogletree (Tupac Shakur) and Alan Dershowitz (OJ Simpson). AllHipHop.com talked to Shyne to get the story straight from the gangstas’ mouth. (Part one of two.) AllHipHop.com: What’s up, Shyne. How are you doing? Shyne: I’m doing well under the circumstances. AllHipHop.com: Now, how do you feel about this considering some of the material is old, before you went in? Shyne: Well, that’s to be determined. There is new material. AllHipHop.com: Some of it is old though, right? Shyne: You know, I can’t really get into it, but everything on there is fresh. I can’s be too specific, but everything is fresh. As far as the fans, they are the reason I am even putting anything out. They are the reason I even came back in the business. That wasn’t my priority. My priority was to get back to the town (freedom) and get this appeal happening. But, the fascination, excitement and the demand for Shyne was just overwhelming. It was like, “Wow.” I had that Godfather sitting and I was just like “Why not put it out?” I got about 10 albums in my head so I’m like, “Why not just put this out?” I’ll put the other stuff out when I touch the town. If it wasn’t for the fans, I wouldn’t have put that out. I’m not thirsty like that. I sat for four years, I didn’t talk to nobody and could have when for a longer time before I touched the town but I’m not pressed. What [this album] means to me is that God has made some people timeless. Some dudes don’t last four months in this game. It’s been seven years for me. From the B.I.G. s**t when I was criticized, to people judging me off of the strength of my talent for that to be coming full circle is great – especially here [in jail]. It ain’t like I’m on the town. To invoke this type of fascination from here, without talking, without doing nothing, just falling back, is miraculous. Godfather Buried Alive is my lifestyle, my struggle. I’m the voice of the suffering. This is a way for the suffering to be heard. The same way they are crying for me, they are crying for him [other prisoners]. He can live through me. AllHipHop.com: Do you think the material and the things going on around the release of this album will affect you getting out of jail? Shyne: This is American and in this land you have the opportunity to say whatever it is you want to say especially in art and entertainment. Me not being the guy that shot those people is going to get me out and the fact that my co-defendant (Sean ‘P.Diddy’ Combs) was paying my lawyer fees so my lawyer was doing whatever he said –that’s going to get me out. The fact that I was defending myself, because somebody else pulled out a gun and fired it at me – that’s why I am banking on. AllHipHop.com: When do you expect to get out, because I have heard as early as 2005? Shyne: Yeah, I have professor Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law professor, and Alan Dershowitz and I couldn’t ask for much more as far as lawyers. I’m on a journey. Worse case scenario, I got three more joints [years] to do. AllHipHop.com: Have you learned any lessons since being in jail? Shyne: I learned more than anything to listen to your gut and to answer to God. At the end of the day, I was the one doing the time. I’m the one that has to suffer and nobody is there trying to suffer with you. Everybody moves on and they keep going, which is fine. Now, that’s why I couldn’t sign as an artist on Def Jam, I had to sign to Gangland Records and then do a joint venture. No one can tell me what to do. I could never put myself in that position again. I had to put myself in a position where I had partners that wanted to invest financially and were willing to trust my creatively and support that regardless of how out-the-box it might be. AllHipHop.com: Do you feel like you should have looked out for No. 1, meaning yourself, during the trial? People feel you rode for Diddy and actually, not talking, helped others that might have been guilty. Shyne: Nah – black, white, from the street or corporate America – that’s unethical. I believe in loyalty honor, respect and that’s just the way I have been all my life. It’s just about putting yourself in the position where you can’t be the victim. I own half of my masters so I am getting my paper. I can’t blame L.A. [Reid], can’t blame anybody, because I made all the decisions. It was all my vision. Unlike the trial, when I wasn’t paying for my lawyer, you understand? That’s the only thing I would have changed was having […]

Watching G-Unit videos such as “Stunt 101” and “Poppin’ Them Thangs,” the uninformed hip-hop fan may foolishly think that the Guerilla Unit is made up of only 50 Cent, Young Buck, and Lloyd Banks. True followers of the infamous Unit, however, know that there has been a missing link riding with the crew in spirit since the release of 50’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Tony Yayo, whose name has been immortalized on “Free Yayo” t-shirts once rocked in a neighborhood near you, had been serving a prison bid during the G-Unit’s highest points of success. An original member of the team, Yayo was 50’s right hand man during his mixtape takeover. While his rap career had been limited to appearances in 50’s early videos, his name gained urban legend status as 50, Banks, and Buck continually shouted him out during his jail time. After a brief second jail stint, Yayo is finally out and set to establish himself as a true G-Unit MC. Wasting little time, he can be heard on the new albums from both Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, as well as on DJ Whoo Kid’s latest addition of his “G-Unit Radio” mixtape series. These days, the only bars surrounding him are those heard in his verses. Out to prove that there is more to the man than just a famous criminal record, Yayo is armed and ready for the road ahead of him. AllHipHop: From the time that you first went into jail up until your recent release, G-Unit has gone from a heavy buzz to an empire complete with a record label and a clothing line. How did it feel not being able to fully take part in the highest point for your crew so far? Tony Yayo: Oh man, I was on top of the world. I felt real good in jail, seeing my peoples do good. You know, I’m not a hater, I’m a congratulater. It’s like a family thing anyway, so I knew that when I was gonna come home I would be straight. Actually, 50 was sending me so much money that I had $8,000 in my commissary. I had to tell him to stop sending me so much money. So I wasn’t worried about coming home to a new situation, or coming home and s**t wasn’t gonna be like that. I knew we were gonna blow. It was just a matter of time. Let me tell you something. You are doing interviews right now, and I don’t know what level you are on, but sooner or later you can be on a bigger level. You may own this magazine, or you may own ten magazines. A lot of people tend to not have faith in a n***a until they see money in a situation. Me myself, I always had faith in 50, I always had faith in me, and I always had faith in G-Unit. I knew we were gonna blow. I stood next to 50 through the trials and tribulations. I was there before everybody. I’m the one that found Lloyd Banks. It’s like, people look at me and know I’m a real n***a, man. That’s because I got faith in whatever I do. If I believe a n***a is gonna do something, I’m gonna stand next to you. If you’re broke and you don’t have a dime, I’m gonna stand next to you. So, I knew I was gonna be straight, no matter what. AllHipHop: While you were locked up, were you aware of just how infamous the name Tony Yayo was becoming outside? Yayo: Oh man, let me tell you something. I didn’t even know until I was on Riker’s Island, C73, 2 Lower. I’m in my house. Now I told n***as…you know, I don’t really fight over the TV cuz n***as get stabbed over that s**t. I actually told the n***as to listen cuz I needed to watch something. No disrespect, but the Spanish n***as watched Caliente, and the Black people would watch basketball or whatever. Not to gender anything out, but that’s just how it is. I just told everybody in the house, “Listen this is what’s going down. Tomorrow night is the Grammy Awards. Eminem, 50 and them are gonna be on so I want to watch it.” So the next day comes, Eminem runs out on stage with a “Free Yayo” shirt on for his performance, and I started throwing tables and screaming. I couldn’t n***ain’ believe it. Em is a real dude. I don’t care what nobody say about him or 50, man. Those are two of the realest people I know on the planet. AllHipHop: So how crazy was it for you to have people from the suburbs and the hoods rocking “Free Yayo” T-shirts? Yayo: It felt good, man. It felt so good to have that support while I was in jail. That’s what kept me going. The “Free Yayo” thing kept a n***a going in jail, straight up. Everyday that I woke up after that day, I told myself, ‘Let me just do this time, get out of here, and go on with my career.” But I tried not to think about what was going on on the outside too much cuz I had to think about what was going on inside. I can’t worry about what 50 and them are doing when I got ten guys with razors in my house, and some n***a just got slashed yesterday over some beef. I have to worry about what’s going on and how my day is gonna be in jail, cuz you can get killed in that mothern***aer. AllHipHop: That actually leads into the next question perfectly. While you were in jail, were you treated any differently because you were Tony Yayo, and not some anonymous inmate? Yayo: Of course. You got to understand it like this man: a criminal might like your music, but he doesn’t want to feel like he is sweating you. It’s a whole different thing. […]

Part II of G-Unit: Pop & Politics AllHipHop.com: They consider the South to be a real racially charged type of place, how is racism down there. Young Buck: The s**t is real. The s**t is realer than anywhere I’ve ever seen in the world. I know in New York, a lot of interracial people, all races can interact with each other like that. Where I’m from that s**t is still kinda like popping in a sense. It’s separate. You don’t really see too many white people in the clubs, they got their own little spots. So in a sense, it’s damn near still popping, that s**t is still segregated. You see the rebel flags and sh*t, flying and sh*t. The shotguns in muthaf***er’s windows and all that good sh*t. AllHipHop.com: Do you get offended by stuff like that? The rebel flag? Young Buck: You know what, man? I don’t get offended by none of that sh*t. I look at it as if that’s something that happened so many years ago, we all should forget about it and move on with the sh*t. I kinda pay the s**t no mind and just move on, homie. AllHipHop.com: They say hip-hop music brings people together, but do those same people listen to hip-hop music? Young Buck: The same race of people? I really think they do, because that’s how they get an insight into the way they feel about a muthaf***er. That’s where they get it from. I just stay away from that as much as possible, man. I done came up around that s**t so much in my life and seen so much bulls**t go down from s**t like that to the point where it’s, more or less, y’all dudes live the way y’all live and I’ma stay the way I am. AllHipHop.com: How does that play into your lyrics? Y’all obviously have gangsta-type lyrics or whatever, with people dying in the war and in race relations, do you ever feel like you need to say maybe a little more about stopping the violence or do you just feel you need to reflect what’s going on? Lloyd Banks: As far as the violence goes, it’s always going to be violence. Between violence, sex and backstabbing, that’s probably like the top three attractions as far as movies, records sales and what have you. If you think about the movies, you think about “Scarface,” you think about “Menace II Society,” you think about all these movies, and the things we talk about on the street is the same thing that attracts them to go see it. If you could see a real live murder take place you probably would watch it. AllHipHop.com: They did when they executed that kid over in [Iraq]— Lloyd Banks: Yeah! How many people done watched that, man? Who didn’t log onto their computer and see it? I seen it. It is what it is, at the same time I was raised and my surroundings told my moms and she put it in me what was right from wrong. Everything else you gotta take for yourself. That’s the same thing. That’s why everything that’s purchased has a parental advisory sticker if it needs one. If it’s a rated R movie, it got the rated R stamp. If you have kids, then it’s your job. AllHipHop.com: But when that lifestyle is a reality as opposed to a sticker, is it different? Lloyd Banks: I absorb everything that takes place around me. If you don’t, you’re in denial. It’s like if I go back to my favorite barbershop, where I always got my haircut. I remember the way I use to have to be standing on that boulevard when I was there. Ain’t nothing change now. I had to have my gun, gotta have my vest, that’s the way I move around. So knowing is half the battle. If you know you can’t be there comfortable then why be there? You understand? They say the club is the place to go to have fun, but yet we all go with our guns. So we’re in denial again. That’s obviously not the place to go have fun at. AllHipHop.com: Buck, going back to the race thing…Have you ever had any encounters? I had a situation, like, where I’m from it’s not really the South, but I used to live near an area where the Klan used to live. A place called Elkton, Maryland. And I had an altercation where one of them pulled a gun on me. It was real hectic. You ever had a situation like that? Young Buck: I had a situation. I’m tell you what, years ago—my homie who I just told you I’ma bring into the game, D-Tay—we was shooting like some low budget video sh*t. And where I’m from in Cashville, they got like a marksmen spot, it’s like a spot that’s on the side of the damn interstate and ten horses with ten confederate flags just flying like Paul Revere, like some real racist sh*t. So I was shooting the clip on that property to kinda let them see that s**t like this s**t is real and the truck drivers had the nerve to pull over on the side of the road, my man, and run up and tell him, ‘Do y’all muthaf***ing n***as know you standing on sacred ground?’ All of a sudden they just start hearing shots come from anywhere. I didn’t know where they was coming from. I got to moving, too. I don’t swing up on anybody like that too much anymore. That s**t is a part of the South. Where I’m from that s**t is out there real big. I never understood that s**t and still don’t to this day.