AHHA: I heard everybody else use the word crazy towards you. Stacie: It was never him [saying it to me on the air]. To me, it was the only reason everyone [was] saying the word crazy is because he was consistently saying crazy. In my firing [they] obviously consulted their legal department, because the first time I ever heard the words ‘loose cannon’ ever in my entire life referred towards me was when the rest of the nation heard it. He did a 30-second speech on TV before he fired me saying, ‘Stacie – loose cannon. We can’t have a loose cannon working for my organization’. So I’m sitting there watching TV like, ‘Whoa! Loose cannon – these words were never said to me’. Now I know why, because a lot of lawyers have approached me, and these are legal terms you can not use when you’re up for a job or working for someone – you can actually sue for the word ‘crazy’. So if you watch my whole firing and listen, it’s all dubbed over. AHHA: Well yeah, a lot of it was dubbed, you can tell. Stacie: In terms of my firing, it was not about defending myself, because it was never a chance to defend myself. But when he said, ‘Maria, do you think Stacie’s crazy?’ [Maria said] ‘Yeah I think she’s crazy’. ‘Elizabeth, well what do you think, do you think Stacie is crazy?’ and Elizabeth was like, ‘Yeah I think she’s crazy’, ‘cause Maria was about to get fired. I went to the boardroom every time, and I knew I wasn’t getting fired. I knew I wasn’t getting fired second task either. I knew that it was this real gang up thing. What you guys don’t see is the boardroom is two hours, so [the competitors] get to do a lot of back and forth with Trump and his two sidekicks there. Trump already knew what I had done in the task, that’s why he was like, ‘I still don’t get it, why is Stacie even here?’ after he had sent everyone back to the loft. Then I said, ‘Look, I already explained to you what I did on this task’ and then that’s when Maria goes, ‘Mr. Trump it comes from the first task with the 8-Ball thing’, and I just looked at her like she was crazy. Then he’s like, ‘Stacie, are you crazy?’ and I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’ and he starts laughing like, ‘Honey, people think I’m crazy’. AHHA: What about Ivana saying: ‘I was afraid for my life?’ Stacie: That’s ridiculous. You have to remember they have footage 24 hours a day, so if they wanna have you looking really smiley all the time, they can interject that one shot right there. If they wanna make you really somber, that’s how you’re gonna look. So yeah, it looked like I wasn’t defending myself, but I did plenty in that two-hour boardroom to defend myself. We were waiting a half an hour for the girls to come up, and me and Donald spoke a little bit. He was like, ‘Look Stacie, don’t say anything. I’ll give you a chance when the girls get back up here, then you can say what you want’. I believed him, so as soon as the girls lined themselves up Jen said her thing, Stacy [R] was like, ‘It was the scariest day of my life’. That’s the only one I actually remember, I don’t even remember Ivana saying, ‘hide in the car’, cause then it just starts s##########. He sits right over at me and Sandy says her thing and he goes right back to me and says, ‘Stacie, you’re fired’ immediately. I didn’t even get to say anything. What you see on TV is that Sandy the last person to say her thing, and switches right back to him for like 30 seconds saying, ‘Well Stacie, a loose cannon disrupts my team, I can’t have this and this and that. Stacie, you’re fired’. I was not gonna say anything in the cab ride. I was very, very hurt over the entire situation because to get on the show I beat a million applicants, and I’m the only black girl on that show so you know it’s even harder. AHHA: There are comparisons everyone makes between you and Omarosa. You’re not even the same person, and Omarosa actually had issues with telling the truth, and things like that which we never saw in you. Do you think the race factor really think plays a part? Stacie: It really does. AHHA: As far as coming off the show and having to come back on and shoot [on a later episode], obviously you were hurt, and it’s gonna be a certain amount of ‘God, I don’t wanna talk to people’, because everyone has a million questions. How did it affect your business dealings with people or your co-workers? Were they supportive of you? Stacie: Well yeah, everyone has an opinion of what I should or should not have done. But until you actually live on a reality set…All you can do is listen, I don’t try to defend myself. It is what it is really. I have a ton of support. I have millions of letters of fan mail. I’ve never ever gotten one negative fan mail letter. I think the public is not stupid, I think they see what happened. AHHA: What made you decide to opt for that look for the cover of Maxim? It’s glamorous. Stacie: Well I’ve been modeling since I was a kid, there’s nothing wrong with changing your look. I know the type of magazine Maxim is, I think it was more appropriate to have my hair straight and sexier. AHHA: Well the men like it. Stacie: People know me by my curly hair but I think for a magazine like Maxim, or other magazines that are more sexual I think it’s more appropriate to do straight hair, […]

Hassan Johnson has developed a knack for being a bad guy. Not in real life, of course, however the popular HBO series The Wire, in which Hassan plays the incarcerated schemer Wee-Bey, is full of characters so richly well developed – it’s got to feel good being bad on such a hot show. While still in High School in Staten Island, New York, Hassan landed a role in Spike Lee’s 1995 film Clockers. He appeared on a few episodes of New York Undercover and NYPD Blue, as well as a few other short-lived television series. In 1998 he starred in Hype Williams’ visually stunning film Belly, and most recently appeared in the Damon Dash produced film Paid In Full on the big screen. Now that The Wire is heading into the final episodes for the third season, Hassan is turning his focus to his production company, Autumn Leaves, and to his rap career. He called AllHipHop.com Alternatives last week to chop it up about the concept of image in his bad boy roles, and the inspirations behind his life, acting, and music. AHHA: In the type of roles that you’ve played so far, have you had any concerns about being typecast? Hassan: I mean whatever concerns I’ve had or haven’t had, it’s pretty much a wrap. I’ve been acting now nine years, so you pretty much can say I have been, but I try to provide such a natural feeling to the character that it’s just someone you can relate to. It’s not a villain, he’s not a thug, he’s not anything. Don’t even try to itemize the type of person that the character is, just somebody you can relate to in a real situation and [I try to] come across authentic. That’s what I try to do, [authenticate] the characters. They’re pretty much the same, they’re street characters, one might be a little more hardcore, one might have a little bit more of an in depth look to a situation. So it depends on how much you get with the character [and what] they go through that makes you typecast. You could be that on the surface hard rock type of guy that’s just the ‘shoot ‘em up bang bang thug’ or you could be the three dimensional thug that has a mom he loves, that has a wife and kid at home and is loyal to his boys. Some people might say I am [being typecast] and it’s cool. I’ll take that because at the end of the day I’m an actor, and I gotta do what I do best. If playing a villain is what I’m good at, then let that be what I’m good at now. AHHA: Do you ever worry about criticism from the public about playing roles that are negative, or the impact that it might have on the community or the kids? Hassan: Well, what’s funny is I’ve been to a few schools strictly in the Baltimore area where we come and talk about the show, and the parallels between that and real life, and the pros and the cons of street life. Really there aren’t any pros, but we still give ’em a good and a bad outlook on it. For some reason, as genuine as the show is, it hits so home with people that it’s not a problem, you don’t really get that criticism. The producers anticipated that, but we never really caught that flack. I’ve read a lot of interviews and reviews on the show, and we just get critical acclaim, and I guess it’s for the writing and the actual material and the way it’s written and presented. It’s just so raw and to the point, people accept it like that. You get to see both sides of the fence, it’s an honest outlook on how the police informant looks at the inner city youth. AHHA: We interviewed JD Williams a while back and he was telling us how you guys actually talk to people in the community and the drug dealers, and some of them are used as extras in the show. How much do you take away from people in the streets in Baltimore regarding your role and how you play it? Hassan: I think they supplement some value to the role and how we play it because, to get down to the nitty gritty, a lot of us on the show with principal roles aren’t from Baltimore. That’s one respect – they do give us that love that you probably wouldn’t ordinarily get not being a native of that town. AHHA: Have you found that they’ve been pretty open with you about urban life in Baltimore? Hassan: Yeah, very open. The only thing I’m probably upset with myself about is I’ve tried to gravitate and cling on to the Baltimore dialect. We [got away with] a lot in the beginning, but then it got so deep and then the dialogue switches up a lot, and there’s other things we have to stress and point out. So we kind of veer off that, and I’m just upset that we as craftsmen didn’t keep that end of the bargain up, but other than that everyone doesn’t have a problem, they’re pretty open to it. They love the job we do, they really do. AHHA: The show is in the third season right now. Things have changed up a lot. It went from the first season being really about the towers and the streets, then it went into the docks, now we’re back with the focus on the streets. Do you feel that in the second season a lot of the street characters were jilted on lines and storylines in general? Hassan: Somewhat, on the surface, yes, but technically no, because if you really took a strong look at The Wire‘s second season the writing was incredible. I didn’t like what was going on at face value, but the couple of episodes I did take time out to […]

No matter how much, or how little, you know about Christion, the truth is that Roc-A-Fella Records gave birth to this creation, introducing the world to a male duo with a rare sound that could transcend time and hold true to the roots of Blues, Soul, & Jazz. Damon Dash was the first to recognize the talent of the group, and in 1997 he quickly signed them to the budding label. Throughout the next couple of years, they all took part in a dramatic chain of events, and the world watched Christion fall from the radar. Brothers Allen Anthony and Kenni Ski just wanted to make music – not good music, but ground-breaking music. After selling over 150,000 copies of their debut album Ghetto Cyrano, a critically acclaimed release which birthed the street classic “Full of Smoke”, the brothers soon realized their label had other plans – plans that included a clothing line and a roster of rappers, but no Christion. As the story unfolds, the label wasn’t the sole reason for the group’s woes. After much aggravation, Christion was finally released from the contract – only to have Allen change direction and sign a solo deal with Roc-A-Fella Records. That album has yet to be released, and there is no indication of a release date. Kenni Ski, the producer and writer behind the acclaimed Christion sound, has finished waiting. Now joined by his cousin T.Ross, a former back-up singer for the duo, the new Christion album is set to drop in the first quarter of 2005 – with Allen’s blessing of course. Will Kenni be able to bring Christion back to its former glory? Will he be able to do it without a major label and without his brother by his side? Allhiphop.com Alternatives goes directly to the source and gets Kenni Ski to tell his story. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: So why did you leave the Roc? Kenni: Wow, that’s like the million dollar question that everyone wants to know! At the time Roc-A-Fella had just started off, and I think we were the third act to sign to the label. Damon had a passion for music and Hip-Hop that blew me away. I knew they were going to be successful and that’s why I signed with them. What I didn’t know was that the Hip-Hop promotion and marketing system is completely different from the R&B one. I don’t think [Damon] knew it either. So we tried to promote Christion as an act in the same avenues as Hip-Hop and for some reason we just weren’t getting anywhere. There were a lot of people that didn’t even know the album was out when it came out. We weren’t in the public eye and [the label] couldn’t figure out how to get us on BET. There was no such thing as MTV [for us] when I first came to Roc-A-Fella. Even Jay Z wasn’t on MTV. So it was frustrating… very frustrating. AHHA: That was 1997 right? Kenni: That was 1998 actually. ‘97 was when we actually signed to the Roc. Jay’s career starting blowing up and we were receiving critical acclaim for our album. So we thought we should do something about it. To make a long story short, [Damon] tried to take us to Sony. We signed a deal with the Trackmasterz. We tried the Sony/Roc-A-Fella thing because we thought Def Jam didn’t know what they were doing in terms of promotion. Remember, this was before Dru Hill even got signed. So we cut an album for Sony in ‘99 and it was supposed to be released in 2000/2001. I don’t know what happened, but I guess Damon had it out with the cats at Sony for what they did to one if his other acts, and we ended up getting dropped from Sony and back with the Roc. They asked us what we wanted to do and I told them that my brother and I wanted to leave to do our own thing. I told Damon I didn’t want to be on his label anymore because we weren’t getting anywhere. It wasn’t that nice but we parted. AHHA: It wasn’t that nice? Kenni: No it wasn’t. We went off on each other. He called me a bunch of names; I called him a bunch of names. AHHA: Why? Didn’t he want to let you guys go? Kenni: No not really. Damon is like me. He has a lot of trust and loyalty issues. I thought I was very loyal to the Roc. Wherever we went we were promoting them. My brother and I were always in Roc-A-Wear. We were pumping the Roc but we felt the Roc wasn’t pumping us. Jay-Z was now blowing up and doing all these videos, so how come we’re not in the videos? How come we’re not singing any of the hooks? How come they aren’t giving us whatever little exposure they can through Jay-Z? That was very frustrating. I just thought since we’re all ‘family’ we should have each other’s back. AHHA: How did you become a ‘family’ in the first place? How did you and Damon Dash hook up? Kenni: I was over at Priority, and Damon was in the office an hour before us. My friend had passed him on our CD and I got a call from him that same night. He had heard ‘Full of Smoke’ and called me up to ask me if we wanted to roll with Roc. At that time, I didn’t even know who the Roc was! But I had to respect him because he was just as cocky as I was. So I told him if he was serious, he should fly us out to New York. Five days later we were in New York kicking it with Jay and them. AHHA: So where did it go wrong? Kenni: It was all good in the beginning, I can’t lie about that. But after we sold 150,000 copies of the album and 400,000 copies […]

When Nicole Wray hit the scene in 1998 as a spry 17-year-old, people were transfixed by her sultry voice and wholesome girl-next-door beauty. She delivered her debut album, Make It Hot, with a certain mature vibe that most teenagers could never pull off, and her deal with Missy Elliott’s Goldmind record label gave her an instant credibility with the masses. The album went gold in the first month and made the Top Five on the Billboard charts, yet even with three hot singles and videos, Nicole did not find true happiness in her situation. After an amicable parting with Goldmind, she took a break to clear her head and make some music on her own. Nicole eventually teamed up with Roc-A-Fella Records to begin work on a new album in 2004, and everything began to come full circle in her life. Her latest single “If I Was Your Girlfriend” is hot on the radio and in the clubs right now, and is proving to be a fantastic prelude to her upcoming album, Love Child. Nicole took some time during a recent AllHipHop.com photo shoot to talk with us about dedication to her craft, her time away from the industry, and the things that inspire her to persevere in a time when the business of R&B is so fragile. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: I understand that you have some military background in your family and you were in ROTC as well. How do you think that those experiences actually prepared you for the music industry in a way that was maybe different from what anyone else has had? Nicole: Oh wow. ROTC in high school kind of taught me to humble myself a lot and to really be focused and to pay attention because it was a lot of stuff that was hands on like the rifles, you gotta be focused and learn the left, right, left. The book work and listening to my dad’s stories growing up I was like ‘wow’ – you really have to be focused or you’ll be living on the damn edge. But I always loved singing and I always wanted to do what the guys did. Everything my brother did I wanted to do, if he was rapping I’m rapping, if he’s hanging off of a tree, I’m gonna hang off a tree, if he’s beatboxing I’m gonna beatbox. I think I’m unique in my own way because I’m not like the average girl, I’m very different in a lot of ways. I respect myself for one; I don’t really get involved in a lot of negative he said, she said. I kind of kept it in my head [to stay away from that]. The music really taught me how to be humble because I’m talking to you, doing interviews and being seen in the public eye so that kind of helped me a little more with the music. I’ve seen artists come in the game wildin’ out like [it makes me say] ‘You say you came from where? You sure you didn’t come from the jungle?’ It kind of taught me to humble myself and to be positive. When I talk to young girls and go to schools, and I’m being the motivational speaker, I can say I came from this background and this is what helped me. So if you go down this path then anything you branch off into in life will be so much easier. ROTC, my dad’s stories, my mom being a single parent, all of that helped me to humble myself. AHHA: Obviously military training in any sense is gonna put you on par with guys to where you’re not treated special because you’re a woman. They break you down to build you up to instill pride. In a lot of ways you came into the industry at 17-years-old being looked at as a sex symbol. Did it conflict with your sensibilities in what you were raised to do versus what you were being marketed as? Nicole: In a sense [it didn’t really conflict] because I already knew what I stood for and that’s part of the game, if you’re a female doing anything in life. If I was a lawyer at a firm with a bunch of guys and I come in there with a little skirt on, I’m a woman so it’s gonna be looked at. But as long as I respect myself, the men are going to respect me at the end of the day, so that’s all good. AHHA: How did all of your experiences with your first label deal and the split with Missy play into you getting with the Roc and having to go through what Damon Dash calls ‘boot camp’ for Roc? Nicole: Starting with Missy – I wouldn’t say that was boot camp because it happened so fast. I met her one day and the next day I was on a plane to Philly doing background vocals for Aaliyah, 702 or whoever it was that she wanted me to do. It was a learning experience and it helped me today, because I can sit in a studio and write a song in five to ten minutes because of what I did back then, [when I] watched her or Pharrell or whoever not knowing that I was gonna use that today. Now it’s really more of a boot camp because it’s real this time. Back then it was… not a joke – but I was young. I could do something back then and, ‘Okay it ain’t my fault’, ‘I don’t know any better’, [and] ‘She’s young’. But now I know I have to grind, I can’t mess up on stage, I have to be in the gym, I have to practice my songs because it can’t fall on anyone else at the end of the day but me. My mother is not beside me, she’s in the background but she isn’t beside me like she was when I first started. So now I look […]

AHHA: If you had to name one single artist that influenced you the most with regard to your career and/or your music, who would it be and why? Nicole: It would be probably Mary J. Blige, because I watched her life from a young teen to my life now, and seen how she stayed on top of the game even with bad press, even with people saying she was on drugs. She overcame all of the obstacles that were thrown in front of her and she still remained positive in my [eyes]. Her music is outstanding, she addressed the pain from day one and let people know, ‘I’m not perfect and I am dealing with the struggles, and that’s why I write this type of music.’ It would probably be her – she changed my life a lot. Now I’m leaning a little bit towards R. Kelly. A lot of people say a lot of negative stuff about him instead of talking to the man, help him instead of talking about him, because he’s a great artist. His music is going to reign regardless, because he always addressed the pain. Every fan or listener wants to feel like, ‘I’m a part of his world – I do feel like him, my bills aren’t paid, I am hungry’. Those type of records – Celine Dion, Mary J., R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Alicia Keys, Usher – those artists really put the stamp on pain and make fans feel like ‘I’m a part of his world and I’m just like him, he’s a regular person just like me’ – through music. Music is very powerful. A known artist can make a song and make people feel like, ‘I wanna just kill myself’. AHHA: Or in Lil Jon’s case, fight everybody around you. Nicole: Yeah! [laughs] But some music is for the clubs, some music is positive, and as long as it isn’t hate hate hate, kill kill kill – at the end of the day it’s all good. AHHA: With your new album you’ve said that you’re going back and picking up some producers that are relatively unknown and some artists from Virginia. Do you look in those up-and-comers for qualities that you possess? Are you looking for specific personality traits on top of that talent in order for you to help them? Nicole: Personally, I’ve worked with a lot of big producers from day one, and a lot of people change. A lot of those people, after they get to a certain level they just shut people off like, ‘I want $100,000 for this’, and they don’t go back and get someone that’s hungry. You have a local producer standing up against a big producer, who’s going to give you the banger? The local one, because he’s hungry he’s trying to get into the game. [The big name] is going to give you something he had from two years ago and try to touch it up. Instead [with the new producer] you’re gonna get the passion. I have so many songs and cds that I get and I’ll put in, and sometimes I watch other artists just throw cds away like, ‘I ain’t listening to that’ – but you never know what you’re throwing away. You should always help and give back and not try to be ridiculous. I worked with one of the up-and-coming producers on Roc-A-Fella – his name is Voola. He’s a young cat who’s very hot, he did a lot of stuff for most of the artists, Beans, Peedi, Noreaga – but I think I might have been the first R&B girl artist that he worked with on Roc-A-Fella. Listening to his music in the beginning when I first met him two years ago, and listening to it now, it’s crazy because he’s more hungry. I want to get to that level, and he works day and night – he’ll give up on a party just to do tracks all night. That’s the type of artist or producer that I would love to work with, because I know I’m going to get my best. I want us to be able to vibe and feel the same way about the music and that’s why I chose to work with a lot of up and coming producers. Another two producers out of Virginia, they call themselves White Boy, Black Boy – Pee Wee and Brian – they did two or three songs on the album. We became friends first, we built a relationship from one of my other homeboys in Virginia, and we just got in the studio and vibed. We’re all creating and they’re so hungry, these guys are no older than 21 or 22. I don’t know where they’ll be in the next five years, if they’ll still have that drive, but if you love music like R. Kelly, like Mary J. Blige, you’ll remain humble and continue to make beautiful music instead of getting beside yourself and saying ‘No’, because you’re just cheating yourself at the end of the day of a career. AHHA: With the new album, obviously you’re very excited and happy to be putting out something you had some input on. Tell us about that. Nicole: The album is entitled Love Child, and because I named it Love Child everybody wants to know why. The reason is, I kind of sit with my mom a lot, my mom is my best friend. My dad – I don’t really see him too much, but when I do see him he is telling me about the past. He lives for the past. I don’t know why, but I guess that was the most memorable and important time in his life, the past when I was younger. My brother was growing up when he was with my mom, so I listened to her stories and I listened to his stories and I put them together. My mom came from the hood, my dad came from […]

It’s been some time since Americans have given major radio support to a female Dancehall or Reggae star. Ms. Thing began her Jamaican invasion by ripping the hook for Beenie Man’s massive hit, “Dude”. Now she offers up her solo debut, Miss Jamaica, to the world. The record sports production from legendary Reggae producer Dave Kelly, with guest shots from Vybz Kartel and of course, Beenie Man. Less than a week after giving birth to a new son, the teenage star told AllHipHop.com Alternatives how she has been dealing with the family and career changes in her young life. See how hard this songstress will push herself in the pursuit to stay in your stereo. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: Hey Ms. Thing. Congratulations on your new child. Ms. Thing: Thank you! AHHA: This is your first album. You didn’t tread lightly with the Miss Jamaica title. Do you think that some of your more experienced peers might take offense? Ms. Thing: No, [laughing]. Well actually, I don’t know, and I don’t really care about them because they can name me whatever they want to name me. If they said anything about it, I wouldn’t care. But so far, it looks like they’re lovin’ it! AHHA: That’s what’s up. Do you think that ‘Dude’ and the response to the catchy hook made your album possible? Or were you already working before that? Ms. Thing: No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t until after I started doing songs with Beenie that they decided to push an album on the market. AHHA: You had some top-notch producers come in on this. For a new talent like yourself, what artistically do you think attracted them to your project? Ms. Thing: Yeah, yeah. Well, I’ve been workin’ with Dave [Kelly] for the past year now. I was workin’ with him since before he even started sayin’ he was going to work on the album. He knew the energy that I have. He knew I was a great entertainer. Yes, that’s why. A lot of the other producers who are on it too, they had [already] worked with me before the album. AHHA: How were you working with them without an album out? Ms. Thing: Well ya know in Jamaica, people put out riddims [often]. I was recording a lot of [those] before the album. People loved the songs that I put out. So when the producers in Jamaica put out their riddims, they’d call me to get on the [track.] AHHA: After such a massive showing with Beenie, how do you take your smaller response of your own work, particularly here in the States? And how is it different in Jamaica? Ms. Thing: The currency in the U.S. is [worth] more than the Jamaican [dollar], so [the US sales are very important to me]. Reggae is taking over, so it’s a good time for the album in America to help get Reggae noticed more. AHHA: And your pleased with the current response? Ms. Thing: Yeah. I was the one who decided for it to be released over there. AHHA: How do you plan on juggling a new career and a brand new baby? Ms. Thing: Well, right now, we won’t know til’ the right time comes for me to go back on the road and do some work. I’m going to try to balance it. It’s going to be difficult – but I’m going to try to work with it. There’s all kinds of people out there waiting to hear another thing from Miss Thing. I don’t know how, but I will try to balance it. AHHA: Beenie was a big launching point for you. You have him on your record with, ‘Ms. Thing & The Doctor’, do you foresee continuing your working relationship? Ms. Thing: Of course! [laughing] Sure. Yeah. I haven’t forgot where I’ve been comin’ from. So I’ve always record, always do shows with him. AHHA: My favorite track on the record is the last, ‘Sweet Soca Music’. I like the Dub style on there. Because you’re using a very recognizable American and European Pop sample there, was that intended to be your big song for the clubs for crossover? Ms. Thing: I mean, there’s already the single out now [‘Hot’]. But I like that track, so does [my audience]. AHHA: Do you have a video in the works for ‘Hot’? Ms. Thing: Well actually, I’ve done a video – but the directing work was real suspect. We just didn’t like it, so I had to scrap that one thing. But I’m going to work on [doing] one more. AHHA: Same song? Ms. Thing: Well actually, it’s a song with me and a big new artist, Vybz Kartel, and it’s called ‘It Haffi Good’. AHHA: You’ve really got your hands full right now, but is there anything big in the works for the near future? Ms. Thing: No, not really. My main thing is just the album out now, and my new baby [laughing]. I’m supposed to be having a tour in Europe in March, April, around that time. AHHA: Just in Europe, or in the States too? Ms. Thing: Just Europe at this time. Hopefully the States [soon after]. AHHA: Well, we’ll let you relax some with your baby. Congratulations one more time. Ms. Thing: Thank you very much.

When Ashanti Douglas exploded onto the music scene in 2002, she was introduced to the world as the “Princess of R&B”, designated as such by her Murder Inc. mentors. Since then, the Long Island native has worn her bequeathed crown well, from singing hooks in Big Pun’s “How We Roll” and Ja Rule’s “Always on Time”, to flying solo with the female anthem “Foolish”, which artfully sampled Biggie’s “One More Chance” instrumentals. Ashanti’s self-titled debut went multi-platinum, and her numerous overlapping singles toppled the charts, inhabiting the top five spots for weeks. She also appeared on multiple successful collaborations with artists like Fat Joe on “What’s Luv”, and even a posthumous match up with Notorious B.I.G. on “Unfoolish”, which all garnered steady radio play. Along with the success came drama, but 24-year-old Ashanti has remained poised amidst criticism of her vocal and performance abilities. She has continually dealt with comparisons to R&B heavyweights Mary J. Blige and Beyoncé, yet remains focused on her own path. As Ja Rule prepares to reoccupy his vacant throne, Ashanti is set to prove that she truly deserves her tiara. The songstress spoke candidly with AllHipHop.com Alternatives to discuss her artistic and vocal evolution, as well as her upcoming album Concrete Rose. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: Your album title Concrete Rose is very poetic. It reminds me of the Tupac song ‘The Rose That Grew From Concrete’. Is that where it’s from? Ashanti: It was definitely inspired by that. [laughs] AHHA: And what does it mean to you? Ashanti: To me it kind of just means, like when you think of Hip Hop, you think of stuff kind of grimy, kind of gutter, kind of raw, sort of like concrete. And when you think of R&B, you think of something smooth, sensual, soft, something like a rose. And then with my music being hip-hop and R&B, it’s a Concrete Rose. AHHA: You said this album is your best, but what separates it from the first two? Ashanti: I don’t know if you heard my first single [‘Only You’] or not, but by the feel of the first record, you can tell that it’s a different sound. It’s definitely different than ‘Rock Wit U’ or ‘Rain On Me’. I think with us just working with various producers on this—we reunited back up with Sev, 7 Aurelius—and it was just a different feel, a new level, a year has gone by, I learned a lot more; so I think it’s definitely, already with the single, the direction of it… you can tell that it’s a different level of music. AHHA: Is the content still classic Ashanti—songs about love and heartache? Ashanti: Well, of course you’re gonna get those. [laughs] You’re gonna get your classic love records, but on this one, I did something that I haven’t done before. I wrote something personal to me, I mean all my records have been personal but, this is something that I actually really really went through and it was hard to deal with. It’s a record called ‘Freedom’ and it was basically about…you know how sometimes you know people and you have your circle of people and those are like your ‘people people’, and you love them and you think that they love you, and they been knowing you since you were small, and you think they’re in your corner… Well unfortunately, those people that I thought was like that wasn’t, and I had to find out the hard way. I just had to make my circle a little bit tighter, a little smaller. I’m basically expressing what happened and I think a lot of people will be able to relate to it. I know I’m not the only one that has gone through that. AHHA: Is there a song on this album with the word ‘baby’ in the title? Ashanti: [laughs] You’re funny. Nah…There’s songs that have the word baby in it, yeah of course, [but] I don’t think any of the titles have the word baby in it. But, if it needed to have baby in it, I’d definitely put it in there without hesitation. AHHA: Most of your songs don’t feature any artists outside The Inc. label. Why is that and is it intentional? Ashanti: No, I mean it’s not intentional like that, but when you play the feature game, it’s a lot of headache, it’s a lot of hassle, a lot of extra checks that have to be cut. But on this album we got a few features [Usher, R. Kelly]. AHHA: Irv Gotti said that your second album Chapter II could have been better. Do you agree, and were you satisfied with that album? Ashanti: I loved the second album, I don’t know. When you go back and you listen to it a year or two later, I guess you think about other things that you could have done differently or could have been better or whatever, but I loved the second album. AHHA: Your image has changed a lot since you first came out; you’re more mature and sexier. Was that a natural thing for you or something planned? Ashanti: Well, to be honest, I think it’s a little bit of both. It’s natural that you’re gonna get older, you’re gonna get a little bit more mature. But being in this game, you have to be conscious of what you’re doing. It’s like you can’t just be sitting around, you gotta want to do it. You gotta [say], ‘You know what, I want to do this. I want it to be like this.’ So in that sense, I think it’s still a little bit of both. AHHA: There’s a rumor floating around that you and Nelly are an item. Ashanti: Nah, me and Nelly are just friends. AHHA: You enjoyed immediate success with Murder Inc. when you did ‘Always on Time’ with Ja Rule and then your hit ‘Foolish’. How did you deal with that? Ashanti: It was kind of overwhelming. I never really got a […]

There is a good chance that you haven’t heard from TQ since 1998, when he debuted on Epic Records with his genre bending album They Never Saw Me Comin’. His soulful crooning was not your usual brand of “love me down” belting, but was rather a virtual reflection in theme and lyricism of the hard edged west coast Hip Hop he grew up listening to in Los Angeles. While the first album spawned the hit single “Westside” and was well-received by both fans and critics alike, his second album, The Second Coming, loosed the single “Daily” but did not fare as well in any regard. When TQ moved on from Epic and signed with the white hot label Cash Money, it was just a matter of time before he blew up into a MTV coated superstar, right? Actually, that was not the case. The mega star explosion never happen, and Cash Money never released the completed album. In 2004, TQ is back with a new independent album, Listen, which is full evidence of the new maturity and happiness he has learned to accept as he has grown older and wiser. So why didn’t the Cash Money situation work out, and what else is TQ up to? Allhiphop.com Alternatives has the answers. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: I saw you last year in Miami with Mannie Fresh and Baby of Cash Money, and they were eagerly introducing you as one of their artists. What happen with that relationship? TQ: Basically they didn’t put out my album before my contract was up. I did a three year deal with Cash Money and they didn’t put the album out with in the time frame that the contract called for, so I just bounced. I looked at Cash Money like my last little bit of boot camp before I stepped out on my own. I wanted to see how their company operated and how Baby and Slim ran their company, and I wanted to soak up some things from Fresh. I didn’t turn out into what I thought it would be, but business is business. I just try to take the positive out of it. AHHA: So your relationship with Cash Money ended on a cordial note, there wasn’t any bitterness? TQ: No, there wasn’t any bitterness. They couldn’t be mad at the decision I made – it was based on my personal needs. I’m sure if it were left up to Baby and Slim I would still be signed there, but at the same time they knew I had to do my own thing. AHHA: So the album was done, was it mainly Mannie Fresh production? What did the album sound like? TQ: Yeah the album was done. It was mainly Mannie on production, but I think that me and Fresh had one idea of what the album should have been, and Baby and Slim had another idea of what the album should have been. We just could never see eye to eye on the sound of the album and the concepts. Me and Fresh wanted the album to be more like my first album, whereas Baby and Slim are about money so they wanted me to play straight to the women. They wanted me to be the R&B love guy and that’s just never been my thing. So the album that we ended up with was a good album, but it’s not a TQ album. AHHA: That’s really unfortunate, because I would have really loved to hear you over some of that Mannie production. TQ: Yeah, he’s not really known as an R&B producer but he showed his ass on the tracks we did. If that album would have been a Jaheim album or someone like that, it would have really worked, but that’s just never been me. I need to feel comfortable in what I’m putting out there. I’ve got a lot of things I need to say and I feel like I’ve been put in this position by God for a reason, so I’ve got a duty to say certain things to my people. I spent a lot of time on that record with Cash Money just not really saying nothing. If I were to put on a suit and start passing out roses [chuckles], that’s just not real. AHHA: What’s the difference between TQ in 1998 and TQ now? TQ: In 1998 I was a mad dude and I think it showed in the music. I also think that was a reason a lot of people ended up liking the record. I was young and I was still close to a lot of s### that had gone on in my life, whereas on this record I’m older and I’m reaching a little more musically. I produced a lot of this record and the overall tone is positive. I’ve matured since the last record, I’m a father now, and I’ve had a chance to travel the world. I’m not constantly stuck in the b####### anymore so that reflects in the mood and sound of the music. AHHA: Being from Los Angeles and being a Laker fan, do you have an opinion on the Shaq trade and the role Kobe may have played in it? TQ: It’s purple and gold baby, ain’t none of them [guys] bigger than purple and gold, they all could go as far as I’m concerned. You could put some high school kids in that uniform and I’ll still be a Laker fan. So nah, I don’t have an opinion on that. AHHA: You got anything else going on? TQ: I just got my first movie part. I’m going down to Mexico to shot in a couple of weeks. The movie is called The Devil Inside and I’m real excited about it. It’s not like I’m the star of the movie, but I’m gonna try it out. If I do okay, I might do some more movies; if I’m wack, you’ll never see me on film again. For more on […]

Television’s newest reality superstar, Toccara, was recently eliminated from Season Three of Tyra Banks’ popular show, America’s Next Top Model. Regardless, that is not going to stop the Ohio native from achieving her goal of becoming the first plus-size super model of the world. Although naturally bodacious Toccara had to endure weeks of constant critique from a ferocious panel of judges, her personal disappointment has given inspiration to plus size women of color everywhere – and America has discovered a new sex symbol. Week to week Toccara proved herself against a dozen other fledgling models from across the nation, but after a long and hard fought battle, the judges decided that Toccara did not fit their ideal. Fortunately, she suits AllHipHop.com Alternatives to a tee! A joyful and vibrant Toccara was more than happy to talk with us about her experience on the show, the importance of confidence, and the next phase of her career. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: So what’s in store for you now as you move on from America’s Next Top Model? Toccara: I’m going to continue to pursue being the first plus size supermodel in the world. Then hopefully I can get some endorsements. I can endorse maybe Pepsi, Reebok, or McDonalds. I would love to do Lane Bryant, or Angie Stewart, maybe Versace, Gucci, Gap, and Guess. AHHA: Who have been some of your inspirations from the modeling world? Toccara: Actually, it’s hard to have inspirations from the modeling because there are no Black plus-size supermodels. Can you name a Black plus-size model? It’s kind of hard trying to be the first and breaking barriers. Hopefully, I’ll become an inspiration for the next plus-size model – [people will] be like, ‘I want to be like Toccara’, or ‘Toccara did that, so I can do it’. AHHA: Do you think the judges had a valid reason for kicking you off the show? Toccara: No, No, No, No, I can’t believe they did that. Do you believe they did that? They made a big mistake. Tough t####. AHHA: Some of our readers felt that it seemed like you lost your spirit last during the show. Would you like to comment on that? Toccara: I don’t feel like I lost my spirit at all – I came in with two snaps and left with two snaps. I left on a positive note – I was happy, I was energetic, and I just think that was their personal opinion. If that’s the way they wanted to portray that episode, then that’s just them. AHHA: You commented about the ‘skinny b*tches’. Did that have an affect on you being in the house of just skinny girls, people trying to be low carb? Toccara: I didn’t have a problem being in the house with all the skinny models. Actually, I think it was helpful that I was in the house because I was an encouragement to all the other models. You have Norelle who stated, ‘I wish I was more like Toccara, she’s so confident’, and Yaya says, ‘Toccara’s a great motivation, she’s very encouraging’. A lot of the girls are like, ‘I wish I was a comfortable as Toccara, she’s the biggest girl in here, but she’s the most comfortable’. I think I left them with something that they will carry with them. AHHA: What is your source of confidence? Where do you think you draw all that energy from? Toccara: I’m blessed… God, I don’t know. I’m just blessed. Thank the Lord. AHHA: Did you feel that you gained a sense of kinship with Tyra Banks? Toccara: I think Tyra is a great person, I’m very grateful that she chose me to be on the show. I gained so much publicity that I would never had gained. I think on the show she was very professional, and I commend her on that, because she can be professional and personal. It was a great experience. AHHA: Do you feel that there’s anything you feel you have to conform to within that industry? Toccara: No, I don’t feel like I have to conform to anything because I’m trying something new. I’m not trying to be the average video girl. I’m trying to break the norm and break barriers, so I can’t conform if I’m trying to make a change. AHHA : Do you feel that Black men in general like larger women anyway? Toccara : [Laughs] Of course! Right. Well I definitely feel that the Black community appreciates women with curves. Don’t nobody want a woman with bones. Only dogs eat bones and they throw them away. I’m a woman with curves and a lot of [Black] women have curves – whether you’re a size 2 or 13 we have curves and men love that. AHHA: I want to go back to when you were at Century 21and you couldn’t find clothes your size on the rack. How did that make you feel? Toccara: From day one on the show I had problems, but my purpose on the show was not to dwell on that. I’m Toccara and I’m fabulous. But week after week for like seven or eight weeks, it came to the point where ‘you chose me to be on this show’. The stylist made the comment ‘Do you think I could get a rack of clothes in your size?’ Yeah, that’s what you get paid for, that’s your job! It’s a shame, but I don’t dwell on it.

Respect goes a long way in this world, and having it breeds success in its own right – even if the accolades are minimal. R&B veteran Jon B definitely has respect, and with nearly ten years in the game he has created an impressive trail of hits and a legion of loyal fans. Having collaborated with the likes of Tupac, Nas, Bootsy Collins, Faith Evans, and long-time mentor and friend Babyface, his career reaches past the creative limits of most popular R&B acts. In 1995, he earned him platinum status with his debut Bonafide album, and his 1999 album Love Hurts contained the platinum single “They Don’t Know”. His third project, Pleasures I Like, enjoyed modest success in 2001, however the singer has been relatively silent since. With his new album, Stronger Everyday, he has unleashed three years worth of recording that was released by Matthew Knowles’ Sanctuary label. Largely self-produced and written by Jon himself, Stronger Everyday features additional production from Just Blaze and Babyface, as well as guest appearances from Scarface, the recently deceased Old Dirty Bastard aka Dirt McGirt, Tank, Beenie Man, and a posthumous verse from Tupac. Jon B spent some time with AllHipHop.com Alternatives on his birthday earlier this month to discuss his underdog status, his hiatus, and his artistic growth. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: Pleasures I Like came out back in 2001, so why has it taken three years to get this new album out? Jon B: Between the politics of the industry and my personal life, there was a lot to facilitate and put together. It got real good and I was in a place that I thought was my best, which is where I felt I was for my last album. I had worked with all of my favorite people, like Nas, AZ, Faith Evans, Cuban Link, and the production was crazy. The label didn’t feel the need to give it that extra push it needed though – that extra push it takes to be able to sell platinum records. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a great record; they put one single out and expected that to fuel an entire album. We sold 97,000 copies our first week out, and it was a really good week, but once they stopped playing the single things died down. I’ve never been the one to bang people over the head, you know – I just do my own thing and hope people can realize the potential. If not, then I just do it independently. That’s what I’ve been doing, like putting this album together for Sanctuary over the last three years, to producing for other artists. That’s what I’ve been basically doing. AHHA: With this new album, what approach did you take to the songwriting process that may have been different than your previous records? Jon B: I basically tried to just expose more of my life and open up a little bit more. There are definitely the club joints on there, and the sexy vibe is still there. It’s not just that normal scenario throughout the whole album, though. There is some depth on it, as far as speaking on relationships. Like, when you first get involved in a relationship, the song ‘Patience’ talks about feeling the new person out and take your time enough to have some subtlety to your game. There is a song called ‘Thru The Fire’ that reflects everything I went through in a relationship when I was down. Then, you have a song like ‘What In The World’ where you are in a relationship that doesn’t really have a title, and you are unsure of what it is exactly. You’re more or less trying to figure out what you are doing. You’ve been together for years and spent a lot of time together, and you aren’t official, or husband and wife. So, its angles like that I’m hitting on. AHHA: I’m sure people can easily relate to that topic. Now, you have the track ‘Everytime’ with Dirt McGirt. That’s an interesting collaboration. How did it come about? Jon B: That whole situation was like a phone call, man. I had seen the VH1 special about ODB, and back in the day I was a huge Wu-Tang fan. There was a point when I would go to a Wu show, I’d be there to see ODB, cuz he was the wildest and the craziest. He would come out on stage and turn the whole show upside down. I wanted some of that raw energy on the album, and for that song, I felt like Just Blaze had put that type of track together. I had played piano, and he more or less sampled that riff and threw the beat on top of it. after I heard it, I was like, .Man, it’d be ill to have ODB on this record.’ Then, he signed to The Roc, and it all worked out. From there, it was a matter of getting the thumbs up from Dame Dash. We did, and the track came out cool. AHHA: You handle the bulk of your songwriting and production. In a time when artists blow up using other peoples’ words and beats, why do you think you haven’t been given respect and acclaim on a bigger scale? Jon B: I think that a lot of people don’t know. Hip Hop is the forefront for music right now, so a lot of stuff is too soft for some people. Some people don’t want to listen to R&B. They’ll like a couple of songs, but they won’t want to go and buy the album. That’s why I’m trying to incorporate Hip Hop. Somebody might want to buy my record, and when they hear it , they might like it and be able to relate to it. Somebody can be feeling all bad, and their boy calls and is like, ‘Let’s go out tonight!’ So he throws my joint on and gets ready to go out. It just puts you […]

In today’s industry, R&B artists still in their teenage years typically follow the same mold as those before them: either being thrown into a marketable group aimed at breaking young girls’ hearts, or enjoying solo exposure while singing about typical heartbreak stories and generic ballads. Regardless, after one listen to the break-through single “Where Were You”, it’s obvious that 19-year-old Urban Mystic is an artist who defies these age barriers. Growing up in a strong religious household in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the morals and spiritual atmosphere of church life helped to fill Urban Mystic with maturity and vision way beyond his years. With the aid of SoBe Entertainment and Warner Music Group, his debut album Ghetto Revelations will hit stores in late November, flaunting the sounds of a very promising young voice for R&B’s ever-growing landscape. Boasting contributions from KayGee, Eddie S., Red Spyda, and the legendary El Debarge, Ghetto Revelations is a fresh dose of genuine soul, and serves as the world’s premier introduction to an artist with vast potential. Making timeless music at such a young age, Urban Mystic is current proof for the late Aaliyah’s youthful claim that “age ain’t nothing but a number.” AllHipHop.com Alternatives sat down with Urban Mystic amidst his hectic schedule to give the world a better feel as to what he’s all about. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: As a newcomer, people aren’t too familiar with the music you’re bringing to the table. How would you describe what you’re doing on Ghetto Revelations? Urban Mystic: Basically, the music on the album is just what the title says it is; it’s going to have that ghetto feel. There might be some things on there that you might only hear in the hood, ‘cause that’s where I come from. I keep it spiritual as well – I never forget God, and I never forget where I come from. I keep the revelations of things going on. AHHA: Can you explain your name, Urban Mystic? It’s pretty unique. UM: I tried to take the name in the same direction as my album and the person I am. It speaks of me and describes where I come from. I’m from the hood and the ghetto, and I grew up in the church, and I’m still in the church. My father is a minister, and my mother is the organist in the church. What I did was, I looked the name Urban Mystic up, and the meaning of the name describes me perfectly. The urban part represents the hood, and the mystic part represents my spiritual background. AHHA: Coming from such a spiritual background, soul and gospel music must have always been around. What other types of music were you into growing up that have helped mold your style? UM: My dad listened to Al Green, Bobby Womack, Marvin Gaye, and The Temptations, and I was always around him, so those artists were big influences. Listening to the songs that they were singing, as well as still going to church every Sunday, I put the two together and it kind of inspired me. We kind of put that ghetto gospel thing down. AHHA: What made you go with ‘Where Were You’ as the first look off the album? UM: The single was done by KayGee from Naughty By Nature. When he did the song for me, I always listened to it and I was really feeling it. We had kind of a hard time picking out the first single, though – [it] was a little time consuming. The more I had listened to ‘Where Were You’, though, the more it started to make me feel good as an individual, not just because it’s me singing on the song. It had thinking about things I used to do. I can remember when I first heard about Biggie or Pac, and I can remember when I first got a pager. You know? It gave me that feel good thing, so I said, ‘Hey, let’s make everybody else feel good like that.’ AHHA: You have a track on the album produced by and featuring El Debarge. That’s a pretty serious collaborator to have on your debut album. How did that come about? UM: Oh man, that was a blessing in disguise. I was actually in New York, recording the album. El Debarge just happened to stop in to the studio. Someone in there knew him, and he was stopping in to holler at him. He happened to hear me singing on a track, and he peaks his head in the door and comes in to introduce himself. Of course, I knew who he was, and I was stunned that he came in and was really feeling my music. So, he was like, ‘Why don’t I write and produce a song for you right here and now?’ [Laughs] AHHA: Damn, so that all happened in one day? UM: Yeah. He did it, and in a matter of a couple of hours it was done. AHHA: I noticed that you actually did some production on the album. How did you get started in the production side of things? UM: I started by playing the piano in my church. I grew up doing that, and when I started learning how to do that, my dad bought me my first keyboard. That was actually the keyboard that helped get me my deal, ‘cause I was singing and playing that when I signed. I just took it and went further with it. I said, ‘Hey, I can play this church song, but what if I could put a beat behind it?’ Make some drums go with it, so I did that and there it was. I started producing. AHHA: If you had to pick one song on Ghetto Revelations that best represents what you and your music are about, what would it be? UM: One track I can pick out is actually the one that I wrote and produced, and it’s called ‘Mama’s Song’. I did it for […]

Cuba Gooding, Sr. definitely has many things to be proud of. He has over 40 years of entertainment on his astute resume, including being a member of the legendary soul group The Main Ingredient. He is the doting father of Cuba Gooding, Jr., who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1997, and two other offspring in the entertainment industry, Omar and April. Time has taught the elder Gooding a plethora of lessons, but all of them pale in comparison to that pure and honest love that many of us forever seek to find. As quick as he is to tell you that he is not hurting for anything from a materialistic standpoint, he is also quick to describe his need to be humble and how he has fallen short along the way. On his latest album, Begin With The Family, Cuba talks about those shortcomings and how things begin and end on the home front. In a conversation with Allhiphop.com Alternatives, he brings those ideas to the front again, dropping knowledge that only four decades in one industry can provide. Allhiphop.com Alternatives: Allow me to preface this by saying that I am very excited about having this conversation with you, sir. Cuba Gooding, Sr: I want you to know that this is a privilege [for me]. My son Omar should be on the line to know that you even care about what I have to say. He’s a young rapper and an actor as well. He’s more of an actor, but he’s a good rapper, too. Did you see him in Playmakers on ESPN? AHHA: Yes I did. He played his character to a tee. It is a shame that ESPN decided to cancel it due to politics and the imagery that was portrayed. CG: The NFL would like us to believe that their athletes are holier than thou, unless they have an OJ situation. That is so hypocritical. When I was in the middle of my career, I tried to find out how I can contribute to the righteousness that the rappers were doing. I’m not talking about the negative things like gangbanging or something like that. I’m talking about rappers like Tupac that did songs about their mother. I wanted to find out how I could contribute when I came out as a singer. It took me three years to come up with Begin With The Family. When I found out that Tupac liked Frank Sinatra and The Main Ingredient, I said to myself, ‘My god, I have a responsibility to come out with a statement.’ AHHA: With 40 years of entertainment on your resume, that is an awful lot of responsibility that you have had to carry. CG: One of the main reasons that a lot of youngsters that came up behind me struck out with regard to humanity and goodness is because of me, The Chi-Lites, The Delphonics, and The Temptations. We were artists that were happening in the early 70’s, and we didn’t stay in the communities and try to help the youngsters, man. A lot of us came out of our neighborhoods, moved to California, went overseas and tried to earn a living because we weren’t getting paid by the record companies. We knew we weren’t going to get paid based on the percentages that they were paying us. Tupac wouldn’t have talked about killing nobody if he had known that making love was real good like it was as I knew it was. I knew it was real good because I had Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and Jackie Wilson. Now that I have new CD, I’ve tried my best to make statements that will help my family, realizing that we are all that each other has when the demons come in and try to turn us against each other. Youngsters that are able to procreate have to realize the responsibility that they have. My wife and I had no clue that we were going to give birth to only the sixth African-American to win an Academy Award. We didn’t know that Omar was going to do Playmakers. We didn’t know our daughter, April, was going to be a comedienne. Everyone needs to know that we must pay attention to our business regiment and leave this world a better place than it was when we came into it. AHHA: That is definitely a responsibility that all of us take for granted everyday. CG: That’s what I’m about. Omar and Cuba are actors. I’m an actor, too, but with melody and lyric. There is no difference between us. We do it in one way, they do it in another way, and we are making statements to make our children and our children’s children stronger. [I want to] sing a song that makes a difference so that young people that tomorrow is not bleak. There is hope. Hopelessness is not a word, a song, or a theme. Hopelessness means that you’ve already died. People that are breathing always have a chance. That’s what Begin With The Family is about. If I get an opportunity to pass along to keep someone as young as you from having babies, I’ll do it. AHHA: Well, you are too late with me. I am a married man with five kids. [laughs] CG: I thought that Cuba, Jr. should have been in The Main Ingredient. Wouldn’t that have been a tragedy? He would have been singing, going up and down the road, and not getting paid on the chitlin’ circuit when he can become an Oscar award winner. AHHA: That is what parenting is all about. You have to make sure that your children do not go through the same struggles as you went through. CG: That’s what it’s about. I’m not preaching or teaching. I’m not saying don’t make love [to] or chase your woman. What I’m saying is keep in the back of your mind that I had no idea that I was […]

Boyz II Men has experienced heights in their years together that even some of the most seasoned artists are still yearning to attain. With multi-platinum singles and albums, they set records for keeping songs at #1 on the charts – first with “End Of The Road” in 1992 at 13 weeks, followed by 1994’s “I’ll Make Love To You” for a 14 week run, then “One Sweet Day”, a duet with Mariah Carey, topping them all with a 16 week run in 1995. Needless to say, Boyz II Men knew how to make hit records, and their fan base grew at every turn. By the time they recorded their Evolution album and released it in 1997, situations over at Motown Records had become a challenge for the now older and wiser young men. Even though the album went double platinum, it hadn’t matched the success of their earlier work, and critics and the label were less than receptive to it. After Motown merged with Universal Records in 1999, Boyz II Men got a new contract and a new direction with more control over their own songwriting and production. Their 2000 album entitled Nathan Michael Shawn Wanya received favorable reviews, but didn’t do much more than gold at the time. The group went on to sign with Arista for their 2002 album Full Circle, but ultimately it just wasn’t the right move for them. In 2004, the once four-man group emerged as a trio with their own independent label and distribution deal through Koch. Their latest album, Throwback, is a collection of covers encompassing classic R&B songs from various eras. Boyz II Men presented AllHipHop.com Alternatives with the opportunity to spend some time with them in New York while they were doing some promotional work for the new project. Shawn, Nathan and Wanya gave us a rare in-depth look at the past, the present, and the future of one of the greatest R&B groups of all time. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: How do you feel about some of these newer groups getting so much love from producers, critics and the public when you could out-sing pretty much any of them on your worst day? Shawn: First, I’d like to say thank you for that compliment. At first, we were mad as sh*t. We felt the same way that a lot of these other folks felt too – we got cats that really ain’t serious about the craft, and they get a little hot record and they get a little gimmick going, and the record pushes them with the extra dollars and they get the extra airplay. It’s really not about what it should be about. At first we were really upset about that, and to a degree we’re still displeased about the whole thing, because it’s the state of the industry right now. Everybody is using the business more as a hustle as opposed to it being about the artistry. It will fix itself, but in the meantime we really can’t concern ourselves with those other people. Everybody gotta eat, and we’re not gonna knock anybody’s hustle – get your paper however you need to get it. At the same time, we still have to do what we have to do, and we know that people appreciate us on a deeper, more spiritual level. We’ve been in the business since 1991, and we’ve seen a lot of artists come, and a lot of artists go. We don’t even trip anymore. AHHA: I feel like Evolution was your best album from a standpoint of vocal maturity, yet the critics really didn’t support the record. How did it make you guys feel as artists that people weren’t really recognizing the growth in your music? Shawn: You know, a lot of people ask us ‘Where have you guys been’ and ‘What have you been up to’ and ‘Why haven’t y’all made any records’, and one of the reasons you might not have heard too much from Boyz II Men is because we were dealing with that very topic. We came out with what we thought was a great piece of work, and I guess the MTV crowd didn’t feel the groove anymore. The industry has a way of chewing you up and sh*tting you out. They do it to everybody. Because of the fact that we were painted as these ‘good guys’, we kind of fell into that in a way – making sure we treated everybody in a congenial way, and not creating any enemies. Doing pretty much anything that anybody tells us. It kind of hit us a little harder than maybe another band that didn’t put that much effort into trying to be the most that we can for everybody. We felt that our music was for everybody, so when that whole thing went down, we took it personal. Just like anything, when something like that happens you want to go rebellious and you wanna lash out. We knew that wasn’t a smart move. A lot of the things we went through were internal, and we tried to work it out internally. In the midst of us going through that change, and everybody not loving us anymore, it took a while for us to realize that it wasn’t personal. It was just how the industry does successful acts, and we were very successful. At that time we had sold about 30-40 million records – we were at our peak. We were all over TV, we were winning Grammy’s, and the very thing that people was tired of us doing… the main thing people said was ‘you guys are overexposed, you’re everywhere – y’all need to chill out’. It’s so funny, because rappers overexpose themselves so damn much it’s ridiculous. This was the very thing people didn’t want us to do, but it’s cool now. In these last few years we were dealing with the industry, and how, in so many words, for lack of a better phrase, turned on us. We were like, […]

AHHA: Have you considered covering any songs outside of classic R&B – rock songs or any other genre? Nathan: We’ve considered creating some rock songs and different things like that. As far as covers, there are so many songs that we’d love to do. This Throwback album that we have now is not even the [tip of the] iceberg of what we’d love to do as far as recording other records. One of the reasons we did Throwback was because we knew that it was something that would have never went across on a major record label, because it just wouldn’t be commercially viable. That’s not the genre of music that they’re focusing on, and that’s not where they’re making the bulk of their money. They get the Hip Hop stuff going and they may get a lot of low budgets and [lesser known] producers and they have a big [profit margin] on what they make. In an R&B case they have to bring in the big guys who want a hundred thousand and some odd dollars to make a song, and the budgets get astronomical, and it takes all day to make your money back. R&B is really not moving right now – it’s a bad investment. We did this on our label with the Throwback songs, because it’s something that we thought it was good for not just us, but for the industry. AHHA: Are you going to keep producing yourselves, or are you going to be reaching out to other producers? Even your hometown producers like James Poyser or others from Philly? Nathan: We’d like to work with a lot of producers, and to be honest with you, between this album, the last album we did on Arista, and the other album we did on Universal, we’ve reached out for a lot of producers. I don’t even think it was really so much us, a lot of those producers either were busy or kinda didn’t want to work with us. It’s not really us per se. Obviously we’ve worked with [Babyface] before – he’s one of the people we reached out to for this Throwback album and was not quite able to hook up with. One thing we’ve grown accustomed to now is that we can’t sit around and wait for producers – we’re gonna keep it moving. Even James Poyser we reached out for – I personally talked to him a couple of times about doing some Boyz II Men stuff. But, you know, sometimes we get caught up in, I guess you’d say ‘the industry’ of things – ‘Yeah man, Ima hit you up’ and then you never see them again for two or three months. Nobody reaches out or whatever… so at the end of the day we’ve gotta keep it moving. That’s pretty much what we did. We’d love to work with other producers, but if not, we’ve got to make it happen regardless. AHHA: How do you feel about the trends of artists singing over Hip Hop beats? Wanya: Music is music – it’s not rocket science. You’ve got a nice track, incredible lyrics, a good vibe, and a beautiful melody. Those things coincide to make a great song. In this day and age, people aren’t looking at [any of that], but that’s all Boyz II Men knows how to do. Whatever it’s over, whether it’s over a Hip Hop beat, we’re still going to try and give it that Boyz II Men flavor – but definitely try to stay as current as possible. Nobody wants to be drug through the mud and have a situation where it’s not stimulating you. You do good music. That’s all we know how to do, music that makes us feel good, and at the end of the day hopefully it makes the people feel good. It’s about the love for it, that’s all. The love won’t let you do nothing bad to it. AHHA: Are there any artists that you haven’t worked with yet that you’d like to work with? Nathan: We’ve been dying to work with Prince for quite sometime. We reached out for him when we were doing one of our albums and he was an independent artist. We asked him could he write or produce a song for us, and he asked us did we own our own masters, and we said no. He was like, ‘Well I only work with artists who own their own masters’. It’s weird now because he’s signed back to a major label and we own our own masters, so he might say no again. [laughs] Shawn: He owns his own masters. Nathan: Well, we don’t know what the situation is now, but we’d definitely love to work with Prince. We’d love to get in there as soon as possible. Wanya: There’s numerous artists, it’s all about making it happen… D’Angelo… Shawn: An artist that might not necessarily take us into an element that we don’t know is Pete Rock. I like that cat. He makes classic joints, and joints that you can vibe with and sing over and it still sounds hard. I love his production. I bought his last two albums on BBE. Those joints you could actually write melodies over. We’re all Hip Hop heads. We talk about R. Kelly too. He’s a premier songwriter right now – he’s the Gamble & Huff of our time, so to speak. There are songs he’s written that are timeless. AHHA: What about Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis? Nathan: Oh yeah, we love Jam and Lewis. We talk about them as the chameleons of the industry – they always seem to find a way to adapt to a time or an artist. There’s nothing they do that we don’t like. AHHA: Would you guys ever consider doing an album of all acapella songs? Nathan: It would take a long time. A whole acapella album would be tough. We’re big fans of Take 6, and we listen to […]

AHHA: Do you have any regrets about your musical direction during the course of your career? Shawn: I have more regrets about our mind states during some of those albums than the music. The music was always the easiest thing for us to do – we can sing almost anything. If we feel it, we sing it, and that’s what we meant, and that’s what we felt. I have no apologies about what we created. It had some sort of purpose – what we were going through, what we sang about, what we fought about, whatever. I do regret right around the Evolution time – that phase was kind of ugly. The whole MTV crowd kind of turned their backs on us. We saw the venues not filling up like they used to, for lack of a better phrase, a mind f*ck. It just got to a point where it made me ugly – I didn’t understand anything. It might not have looked that way, because we were groomed to not put ourselves out there like that. Whatever we were going through personally, we were going through personally. Whatever you were going through, the fights, the ego trips, all that other crazy sh*t, you kept that on the low. AHHA: Did you guys fight much in your early years? Shawn: Oh yeah. [laughs] Yeah, we fought a lot. There was certain times where it’d come to blows – I could count it on three fingers. You’re getting four passionate dudes in a room [talking] about where we’re going, especially when it’s on a downward spiral, and everybody feels like they have a solution – it can get kinda sticky. AHHA: Speaking of four, now you’re down to three. How does that feel for you guys? Shawn: It’s excellent. It’s actually less weight. It’s hard to have four guys that are bosses and there’s a decision that needs to be made, and you contact two, but one is in the Bahamas and one just ain’t answering his phone. There’s a lot of things that could have been a lot different if that kind of democracy wasn’t set up. Right now, we’re at a point where the three of us know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. AHHA: How old are you guys now? Shawn: I’m 31, Nathan is 33, and Wanya is 30. AHHA: You’re still young. Shawn: Yeah, a lot of people don’t understand that our first single, we were 16, 17 and 18. We basically grew up in the game. AHHA: What are your thoughts on the different directions you’ve taken musically? You’ve done everything from sensual, sexy type approach, you’ve had the club hits, and you’ve had the radio hits. What do you feel the direction of the group is now? Shawn: With this album that we came out with now, it’s our way of going back to the roots of everything – not just Boyz II Men music. We feel people are looking for it, and we have a [name] that people trust to get that, so we’re giving it to them. We feel the same way. We’re still young, but we’re grown ass men. We do grown things and we live grown people lives, and we know that our fans and supporters do to. I come from a school where I listened to Marvin Gaye, and it didn’t matter that he was 20 years older than me. I liked it, and it wasn’t about age. One of the things that changed in the industry is this segregation. It’s like if you’re 16 or younger you can’t listen Marvin Gaye or Carl Thomas, and if you’re 35 and up you can’t listen to B2K or Kanye West. Think about the Jacksons – Michael was 9 and grown ups loved him. It’s so wack right now. I don’t understand why that changed. Everyone in the industry was so much more profitable that way – when you separate things, you separate the money too. AHHA: Let’s discuss the process of going from a major to an independent label. Nathan: The process is really only best fit for artists who have either been in the business for a certain amount of years, or who have a name or following of [their] artistry. It’s kind of difficult to be a new artist and go to an independent, because there is only a certain amount of revenue they have to put an artist out – when most of the revenue has to come from the artist themselves. We were at Universal, I think we just kind of wore out our welcome. We were a group that was originally signed to Motown, and when they merged with Universal we were just another group on their roster. Obviously they felt like we were a big group on their roster, but everybody felt like they knew the direction that Boyz II Men should go, and no one wanted to ask the group. That’s where record companies falter, they bring in people and hire them to make certain decisions, but unfortunately the only person that really knows the artist is the artist. The only person that knows the fans is the artist. We’re out in the street all day, and our fans say what they want and what they need. We bring that insight back to the record label, because there are certain things fans are going to say to us and not them. But these guys get six figures so they feel like they gotta make all the decisions, and when you sign contracts, to a degree, you put yourself in a position where they get to make all the decisions creatively and financially, so all you do is do what they say. That’s one of the joys of having an independent situation, where you can pretty much do whatever you feel. With Arista I think got to a situation where they felt that they knew the direction of Boyz II Men. One thing that we’ve […]

Sex is the world’s first industry and the oldest known profession. If used for the purpose of selling something, it can become a viable asset and tool for what you do. Lady Saw learned this lesson a long time ago, and she is reaping the fruits of her expertise. Having been Jamaica’s leading sex symbol for over a decade, she has taught the world at large the valuable lesson of being sexually respectable amongst her peers. She made it her personal mission not to let her highly sexual alter ego, Lady Saw, ever intermingle with the private life of Marion Hall, the school girl who grew up dirt poor in the small village town of St. Mary, Jamaica. Upon the release of her seventh album, Strip Tease, Lady Saw speaks candidly with AllHipHop.com Alternatives. She delivers a sexually empowering message for the young ladies in the dancehall, while also sending a special message for the overly exploited women in the industry. Allhiphop.com Alternatives: You seem to be a very busy woman, globetrotting the world and working hard on your craft. Talk to me about your current project. Lady Saw: Well, I got the album that’s out now. It’s a long awaited album; everybody’s been waiting. But, the good thing is that everybody is loving it. I called the boss this morning, and he said everything is lovely. Everybody is loving this album, man. We [are] working it and everything’s fine. How is good is that, you know? I’ve never done so much work, even though I had albums before. I’ve never done so much groundwork on any album. This one here is definitely the right one; I think this is the best one. AHHA: Basically, you were more involved in the music and how you wanted everything to sound, right? Lady Saw: I’ve been in the business for a while, and I know sometimes [that] an artist who’s been in the business for a long period of time tends to fall back. I wasn’t planning on doing that. I was home relaxing all the time, yes. But, one day I got up and said, ‘I need to write a song that will get all the young girls in the dancehall crazy and hype.’ I wrote ‘Man Is The Least’, meaning men are the least [of my worries]. I don’t worry about them. Some girls stress over men, but I don’t worry about that. The whole song is about ladies who watch other ladies and talk about [personal things]. Everybody caught on to that song in the dancehall. The selectors turned it down and the girls would start to sing it, and that just took off right there. Then, I knew it was time to do this album. AHHA: Who are some of the reggae artists that you feel is taking the dancehall craze to another level? Lady Saw: For the crossover, I’ll say Sean Paul, definitely. Elephant [Man] is also crossing over, but people don’t understand what he is saying. For instance, I was in a beauty salon and I picked up on a conversation with some American chicks. They were like, ‘I don’t know what the hell he’s saying!’ That kind of [taught] me something, too. This time around, I put more English into my songs. I can crossover, and you people can understand. There’s a Spanish guy that’s using all the reggae and dancehall riddims, but singing on it in Spanish. People are taking our music and crossing over. AHHA: In my opinion, that’s the ultimate testament of respect. Lady Saw: A lot of people look at it like everybody’s jumping in and biting our thing off, but they are taking it to another level, man. That’s all good. I know if you use a riddim from someone in Jamaica, you got to pay some royalties. Once you get me [some] royalties, they’re not losing. If they are paying the dues, we’ve got no complaints. AHHA: Again, it’s a confirmation that people from across the globe respect reggae. If different genres are beginning to use riddims as a means of crossing over, so be it. Reggae has come a long way from Bob Marley and the Wailers to what it is today. Lady Saw: Back in the days, I don’t think they made money like we are making today. I hear people talk and say back then; they didn’t make a lot of money. I know that [reggae artist] Gregory Isaacs did ‘Night Nurse’, and some guy in London covered the song. He got money from that. AHHA: I want to change the pace of this conversation and talk about some of the songs you have on this new album. Wow! Lady Saw: You love ‘Pretty Pu**y’? AHHA: I cannot honestly say that I am offended by the song at all. [laughs] Lady Saw: ‘Pretty Pu**y’ is all about decorating your p######. You have a lot of men that used to downgrade women when say things about how big a woman is. I’m telling the ladies to upgrade their punannies. You need to shave it in whatever form you want to shave it in. Don’t have it all bushy and have hair going all over the wall. Shave your p###### in whatever shape you want. You can put a ring on it. Put pure ice on it so that a guy knows that whenever you spread your legs, your pu**y is expensive and is worth a lot of money. You can put a tattoo on it. You can put a teddy bear on it. So, I’m telling them if you have a pretty pu**y, put your hand in the air! AHHA: Strip Tease is a very suitable title for an album with such suggestive subject matter. Lady Saw: I named the album Strip Tease long before now, because there was another Strip Tease that we were working on but never happened. I abandoned a lot of songs and upgraded to new ones. I heard that Big Yard had […]

Comedic genius is often measured by the ability to attach laughter to some of life’s most troublesome issues. Mo’Nique is a master of intertwining comedy and confusion, and she has brought happiness to millions of people with her “take no prisoners” brand of humor. The Baltimore comedienne is best known for her now syndicated sitcom, The Parkers, and her ground-breaking role as part of the all-female The Queens of Comedy show that received comparable, or even more favorable, acclaim to its male counterpart, The Kings of Comedy. With relentless determination to make her real life take center stage, Mo’Nique has tackled a few projects, and success has no choice but to be the end result. In a conversation with Allhiphop.com Alternatives, she touches briefly on a few of these new endeavors, including her new movie, her new book, and new comedy DVD that will surely leave permanent smile lines on your face. Get your laugh on! Allhiphop.com Alternatives: It is my pleasure to be speaking with you, and I wanted to first touch on these new projects you are working on. Mo’Nique: Well, [my new] movie Hair Show is a feel good movie. It’s about two sisters who are separated over a miscommunication. They just mad! My character is [named] Peaches, and both sisters are from Baltimore. The other sister is named Angela, who’s played by Kellita Smith from the Bernie Mac Show. She’s out in Beverly Hills with an established salon. Peaches is back in the cut in Baltimore with a corner salon. Peaches gets in trouble with the IRS, realizes she’s got to get away, and so she runs to her sister. It’s not so much to run away to make things better; she runs to her to get some money from her. In the interim, they actually get to know each other, and begin to love each other again. So, it’s a movie about forgiveness, love, trust, and the climax is the hair show. Let me tell you, I’ve been to hair shows, but you’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve never seen the Brooklyn Bridge in somebody’s head! AHHA: The Brooklyn Bridge?! [laughs] Mo’Nique: Yes, with cars going across. AHHA: I cannot even imagine that in my head right now. What kind of a designing genius must you be to accomplish something like that? Mo’Nique: [The hairstylist’s] name is Kim Kimble, and she did all of the hair for the movie. She’s amazing. The hair that you see in this movie, you’re going to say, ‘Wow, how did she come up with that’? AHHA: I hope there were not any electrical problems with that particular hair style. I would hate to hear about burned up pieces of scalp flying everywhere. Mo’Nique: It was short while it lasted. [laughs] AHHA: Who else shares the cast credit with you in this movie? Mo’Nique: Joe Torry, Taraji Henson, Gina Torres, Vivica Fox, Serena Williams, Bruce Bruce, E-40, David Ramsey…just an amazing group of people. AHHA: Talk about how you originally came across the script for this particular movie. Mo’Nique: The two guys, Leslie Small and Jeff Clanagan, had a meeting with my brother and me, because my brother is my manager. [They said] they wanted to do a movie about beauty shops, and they wanted me to be interested. Once they explained to me what they were going after, it was a feel good thing. Then, they allowed me to bring in my own writers. Sherri McGee, the sister that co-wrote my book Skinny Women Are Evil, also wrote the movie. AHHA: I wanted to talk about that book and ask you what possessed you to write it. I also want to know what kind of response you have gotten from that because it does seem rather controversial. Mo’Nique: Skinny women are evil, baby! That is the big girl’s bible and the skinny woman’s warning. I had the best time writing that book with my writing partner. When we sat down, we didn’t know that this was going to be the finished product. We have things in that book to help big women out. We let you know where all the food courts are in the airport. In any airport in the country, we can tell you where the food court is. We let you know the best places to shop, the best places to eat, what to make your man for dinner, just everything. AHHA: Basically, it is a guide to let women know not to let low self-esteem affect their daily life, right? Mo’Nique: Yes. If you have a couple of stomachs, it’s ok. It’s called ‘sexual stuffing’. AHHA: You also have a comedy DVD that was recently released called One Night Stand. Would you like to speak on that for a moment? Mo’Nique: I had it going on! Baby, I had so much fun. For me, when I’m on that stage, I have just as much fun as the audience does. I’m going to laugh just as hard, and that’s because I’m having a good time. AHHA: Where did the show and DVD recording take place? Mo’Nique: We did it in Memphis. AHHA: That is where The Queens of Comedy show was recorded at, right? Mo’Nique: Oh yeah! We rocked the house. The house was packed. AHHA: What was some of the subject matter that you touched on throughout the routine? Mo’Nique: I pretty much talk about me and my life. I was newly divorced with two kids, trying to be a celebrity, trying to date again, and just going through the things that happened to me. I never told a joke. I promise that you that what was going on with me was happening to 80% of that audience.

Roy Ayers has experienced an unparalleled life in music. Born and raised in Los Angeles, the Jazz vibraphonist has enjoyed a phenomenal career that spans five decades and even more musical genres, including Jazz, Funk and Disco, to name a few. Whether his music is sparking countless games of “Who sampled that?” or he himself is rocking with The Roots as he did on “Proceed II”, Roy’s legacy is relevant to the Hip Hop generation. Not just content with his back catalog, his latest album, Mahogany Vibe (BBE/Rapster), features contributions from Erykah Badu and the legendary Betty Wright, along with more of the grooves that have endeared him to lovers of good music worldwide. AllHipHop.com Alternatives caught up with the always engaging Roy Ayers to discuss his career. Roy is a true personality, and at times inadvertently veers from the question he’s asked. Regardless, he still manages to deliver an interesting factoid of an answer nonetheless. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: Tell us about your latest project. Roy Ayers: It’s been out since the beginning of the year [and] now it’s distributed by K7. The hardest thing to get when you’re independent is [getting] good distribution, but I finally got it, and I think that that’s going to make the record get international as well as local exposure. AHHA: Are these songs that you already had in the bag? RA: Oh no, these are brand new songs. Except I did ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’ and ‘Searchin’, which are old songs, but [with] new arrangements on them [with Erykah Badu]. I had done another album for K7 which were old songs that I never had released before. AHHA: Virgin Ubiquity? RA: Yeah. That’s how I got the distribution deal, because I did that deal with them and they said, ‘Well we like your new album Mahogany Vibe, can we put that out?’ and we did a deal on that. So there are some doors open that were not open before. AHHA: How is Virgin Ubiquity doing? RA: Virgin Ubiquity is still selling well. I think its passed the 50,000 mark. AHHA: Were the songs included on the album never intended for release? RA: No. I never intended to do anything with them, because they were sitting in my file inside of the storage bin. I’ve had them since the 70’s and 80’s – the stuff I did when I was signed with Polydor. I had signed a production deal with Polydor and everything I did on that production company that didn’t belong to Polydor, that was mine. I still have about at least another three albums. AHHA: Are you planning to release those as well? RA: I can if I want. Probably K7 will be interested in them. AHHA: Erykah Badu appears on your album and the couple of times I’ve seen you perform live you mentioned being grateful that she sampled your music. RA: I’m just so glad that she did that. Mary J. Blige [used] ‘Searchin’ also. When things start happening for you man… I just made my 64th birthday. In my younger days I thought that being 60 anything was old, ya know? But now if you’re in good shape and you’re healthy, you don’t really think about that. That’s the name of the game. People feel old when they’re sick or worn down, but I feel so good. I feel like a 24 year old! AHHA: So you’re just getting started? RA: Things are happening, and a lot of young people like Erykah and all the people that are relating to my music, it’s a wonderful feeling. AHHA: A lot of young people know who you are through Hip Hop producers’ sampling of your music. How do you feel about that? RA: I feel very good about it, because it lets me know that they relate to my music and I’ve asked many of them that have sample my music, ‘What is it about my music that makes you sample it?’ They all say the same thing – it’s the sound that I have. When I had the analog sound it creates another vibe for them. I didn’t know [a great sound is] what I have. I would just play music, and did my thing in creating that sound. I had no idea this was going to happen, as far as the sampling. I have more sample hits than any other artist out here. Including James Brown and George Clinton – all the cats that have been sampled a lot. It’s a wonderful feeling. AHHA: Since your name is out there in Cincinatti, there was a ruling that tightened the reign on sampling. Any use of a sample, including a note, is illegal. RA: Oh yeah? It used to be 8 bars. I have a company that represents me called Chrysalis; they collect all of my royalties. The group TLC, in a song they said ‘My life, my life, my life.’ They had a big confrontation between Chrysalis and TLC’s people because they were saying it’s not really a sample, and Chrysalis won. I think I got like 10% percent – some small percentage or something like that, [but] that was still a lot of money ‘cause TLC was selling a lot of records. As long as I’ve been here on the planet and they’re still sampling my music, it makes me feel wonderful.

AHHA: Who are some of the current acts that you are into? RA: Jill Scott – [she] sampled one of my songs on her current record. She sampled ‘No Stranger to Love’. The names go on from Will Smith, to…there’s just so many people. Mary J. Blige is probably the biggest sample I ever had when she did ‘My Life’. Big Daddy Kane, Brand Nubian, A Tribe Called Quest, Monie Love – it feels good to hear the people sampling my music, and that they love it enough to sample it. They’re saying this is the best music for my lyrics. AHHA: You started doing West Coast Jazz right? RA: Yes sir. AHHA: As you went on to dabble in Funk and Disco, how did the Jazz scene take to that? RA: There was a certain amount of resentment. The good thing about my career is that I’ve been growing ever since – I get respect from the Jazz musicians, I get respect from the R&B people, and I get the same respect from the rappers. I get respect from everybody, because I’ve been around a long time. I guess I’m in a unique category because my ability to play everything and that’s to my advantage. AHHA: Considering all of the genres you’ve done, was it a question of you wanting to see if you could do it yourself? RA: I just I knew I could do it. Just like when the president of the Polydor Records asked me if I could do a soundtrack, I said “Yeah.” I had never done a soundtrack before and then I did the music to Coffy. Then I did some of the music to Jackie Brown later. I recorded with Rick James. I recorded with George Benson. I worked with Herbie Hancock and Joe Henderson. Everybody accepts me. AHHA: Did you ever consider yourself just a Jazz artist? RA: No. I’ve considered myself just an artist, and I consider myself incredibly versatile. AHHA: Out of all the people you’ve worked with, does one experience particularly stand out? RA: One of the most impressive people I worked with is Herbie Hanckock, because of his ability to play one chord and make it sound so many different ways. He and Ron Carter are both spectacular, exceptional musicians, because they have so much knowledge of chords and so much musicality. Just working with them alone was a unique experience. I can’t even remember them all. When you look at someone like Whitney Houston, who sold a lot more albums than me, but what she’s done in her career is maybe… and I’m just taking a guess, maybe she has done 20 albums. I’ve done 89. No one has done that many except Duke Ellington did maybe a hundred and something…104. Miles Davis did about 100. And they lived to be quite old. Lionel Hampton did about 140 albums and he was 94 when he died. That’s incredible, he had done that many albums man. I’m at 89 and I’m still kicking them out, and I’ve been working on my music and I feel good and I thank God for the strength and just the blessing to be here and participate. I’ma tell you something else…this is interesting; Bill Clinton, the ex-President of the United States wrote a book and he called the book My Life, right? Mary J. Blige used that sample, ‘Everybody loves their life in the sunshine…’ and she called her song ‘My Life’ right? Without getting too political with it or whatever, if you ever talk to Bill Clinton why don’t you say, ‘Hey Bill, what you think about Roy Ayers’? [laughing] Ya know, just to see if he vibe on “My Life”. AHHA: How did the song “We Live in Brooklyn” come about? I ask because that is one of your most sampled records. RA: I didn’t write it. I recorded it ‘cause there was a young man named Harry Whitaker, in my band. In the early days he was in Ubiquity – that was my group. He wrote the song. ‘Everybody Loves the Sunshine’ comes from my growing up in Los Angeles, California, and how beautiful the sun was when I wrote it in 1976. I was reflecting on my childhood. ‘We Live in Brookyln’ was a beautiful song too. AHHA: What’s the story behind ‘Running Away’? RA: ‘Running Away’ was a song written by me and my friend Edwin Birdsong. That was during the Disco era. I remember this guy that used to manage Kiss came to me and said, “Hey man, I can make you the biggest black Disco star ever.” I said ‘That’s cool, just guarantee me 5 million dollars’ [laughing] ‘cause I had already made a million. AHHA: Your music, in addition to having a good time, always had a conscious vibe to it. Do you think artists still have that balance? RA: I was very lucky that I was aware and I knew of a lot of things that I say in my music to a lot of people, and I’m glad that I was able to do that. I see it in people like a Mary J. Blige, like an Erykah Badu. AHHA: What’s next? RA: I got a DVD that’s going to be coming out next year, it’s called Roy Ayers All Over The World. These are excerpts; some live, stuff I’ve done in the studio, live [footage] of me performing, me talking a little bit. It’s very nice, it’s very entertaining and I’m very excited about it. And I’ll probably have another album come out sometime after February or March. AHHA: Have you ever done records with Betty Wright before? RA: I’ve never recorded with her before [now]. It’s interesting how that happened cause I was recording with Erykah, and she said Betty Wright was in town . I said ‘Where is she performing.” She said, ‘She’s not performing anywhere, she’s my best friend’. I said ‘Really?’ She said, ‘You want her on […]

You can call Raphael Saadiq a lot of things: singer, songwriter, and producer are the first to come to mind. The former Tony Toni Toné lead singer has spent the better part of the last decade establishing himself as a one-man showcase for urban music, crafting hits for the likes of D’Angelo, Total, and, of course, himself. Two years ago he released his solo debut, Instant Vintage, which resulted in Saadiq adding another title to his already impressive resume: executive. Regardless, don’t expect the Oakland native to lose his California cool as a label head. While Pookie Entertainment has absolute autonomy after Saadiq parted ways with Universal Records, he doesn’t rule with an iron fist. Free-spirited artist Joi can be just as independent as she desires, whereas Truth [formerly Truth Hurts – see the AHHA interview https://staging.allhiphop.com/alternatives/index.asp?ID=55] chooses to work closely with Saadiq and Pookie. Now Raphael is back with his sophomore solo effort, Raphael Saadiq: As Ray Ray, and he’s keeping his mind humbly focused on success for himself and beyond. AllHipHop.com Alternatives spoke with Raphael as he explained the indy hustle, his new project, and why R&B cats need to take a page from Pete Rock and CL Smooth. AllHipHop.com Alternatives: So how’s everything going with your label, Pookie Entertainment? Raphael Saadiq: Everything’s going cool. Everything’s real settled. AHHA: It seems most people associate going the independent route with Hip-Hop, with R&B do you find it to be a different perspective? RS: Nope, it’s all the same. It’s all the struggle, it’s all the grind, and it’s all the hustle. You doing everything for yourself, and you making everything happen on your own. So, it’s very much like Hip-Hop. AHHA: How has it been for you to move between being a collaborator with Truth or Joe and working with them as a businessman? RS: Truth’s thing, we kind of run her whole thing – but Joi’s project is kind of being spun off by Joi. I’m like a partner with Joi, but she’s doing her own label, too. So it’s Pookie, we did the music with her, but she’s kind of running herself. I don’t really have to deal with that on a day-to-day. I really only got to deal with myself and Truth right now – on a day-to-day. AHHA: The process of going independent seems like it would be a liberating thing for you, based on your expertise with different instruments and your songwriting skills. RS: Yeah, it is exactly. It’s always a journey, you know? There’s always something to look forward to and to get a response from people, so it’s always an uplifting thing for me. AHHA: Is your new album a continuation of the ‘Gospel-delic’ sound you dubbed your last offering? RS: Partly it is, but it’s a lot looser than the last album. Meaning there’s more up-tempo. The beats are like more aggressive. It’s more like a Friday…Like, I call it a ‘weekend album’. AHHA: With your label, are you looking for new talent or do you prefer to work with acts that already have an idea about their sound? RS: Right now I’m working with people who have already established their sound and identity. But after you break one act, then you can start concentrating on new acts. AHHA: Outside of Pookie-related projects, who else have you been working with? RS: This year I worked on Jill Scott’s new album. Earth, Wind, & Fire’s new single, ‘Show Me The Way’ – I did that. Mainly, I’ve just been working on my project. I’m gonna get back in to that [outside work] when I get back off tour. AHHA: Are you gonna do anymore work with D’Angelo? RS: Yeah, we’ve been talking. Once I get back from Europe, I’ma go out to Virginia and work with him. AHHA: Could you explain why this release isn’t in conjunction with Universal Records like Instant Vintage was? RS: I had one more record with Universal leftover from the Toni project, and I always knew I wanted to put out myself. So it was an opportunity for me to put out myself. Universal was a great label, but you kind of want to be able to blame yourself if you do something, so that’s what I wanted to do – take a chance and go out there and start a label with myself. I’ve been wanting to do it for years, and finally got the chance to do it. AHHA: If you didn’t have the one record left over with Universal, would you have put out a solo album? RS: I would have, yeah. AHHA: I’m sure people are always asking you, but when is there gonna be another Tony Toni Toné album? RS: Yeah, we’re actually trying to put it together now. AHHA: What was it like working with Babyface, because you are both usually in control of songwriting duties and the production? RS: I actually wrote it and brought it to him, he just actually sings. We worked together before and I did the same thing for him. He’s like an idol of mine, a mentor. I kind of look up to Mr. Edmonds. People kind of say we brothers and stuff, they call me his little brother. So it’s like, ‘Big brother, it’s time to be on little brother’s album.’ He’s a great writer and for him to just get on my track and sing it meant a lot to me. Usually when you ask somebody to do something, people tend to be fake. He’s a real cat – he was down. He does stuff for me and I do stuff for him, and that’s how it should be. I can respect that. AHHA: Your hometown is known for its political background in activism. What are your thoughts on the Hip-Hop political movement and a lot of the young rappers being more outspoken? RS: I think they need to be. It’s gonna be the next generation’s world and somebody’s got to get into […]