Vincent Van Gogh changed the archetype of the artist. He was a misunderstood street craftsman who basically drove himself crazy. Bizzy Bone isn’t starving, and he’s not crazy. But Bizzy Bone whether you’re a fan or not, signifies the voice of Hip-Hop. Bizzy’s message is that of struggle, pain, and darkness. This side of Bizzy has always made him a media marvel. He’s hard to reach, tough to talk to, and a difficult human being. Bizzy lives a life three times as fast as you or me. Whether we might not completely follow his fast flow, most of us cannot fathom his pain. In a rare moment, Bizzy Bone comes clean with AllHipHop. In the final stages of his new album, Bizzy confesses on an array of topics with no holds barred. The questions are all answered, whether definite or vague. Rather than a press release or a rumor, you’ll hear it from Bizzy’s mouth – the group, the label, Eazy, and a lot of other topics that have had the streets whispering. Bizzy not only goes over his past and his future, but shows his realest self. In one breath, he’s a unshakable triggerman from the rugged streets of East Cleveland, in another he’s a reformed saint to his audience, who speaks a little too comfortably about death. In any case, Bizzy Bone is far from dull. Catch a glimpse into the mind of one of the most misunderstood artists since Vincent. AllHipHop: First off. Let’s just get the official word…you are no longer in the group, Bone Thugs and Harmony. Bizzy Bone: Bone Thugs & Harmony, now we started out as a crew – a crew of friends. But we also rapped. We were in the street together robbin’ people, sellin’ drugs, we still rapped. So it was more like a family thing. We made a pact that we would be together forever, and we would die for each other, and we would kill for each other. This was the pact that we made. So, saying all of that – getting into the music business, and now we’re in another world. We’re actually being meant to sign away our free-will that God gave us over to a corporation, who is owned by a corporation, who is distributed by a corporation, who is told what to do by a corporation, all controlled by the government, of course. Now, we come out with five, six albums if we count the double CD as two, together. We sell about thirty million soundscan I believe, and about five to ten bootlegged legally and illegally. You know what I mean. Then I come out with these solo albums, Heavenz Movie. We all signed that deal together. Everyone signed the deal with Relativity, who had a deal with Ruthless. So we come out with that. I had a problem when Tomika [Wright] wasn’t sending us royalty statements. That’s when I asked the question. My only defense was, "I ain’t doing sh*t, man." When I do the show, everyone ain’t getting in free. When I do the in-store signing, we’re not giving CD’s away. If they’re selling it, and they’re making money off of it and I can’t see a receipt, then something’s wrong. And that was the only thing I stood on, and I was young. I know I shouldn’t have been worried about the money. I know I shouldn’t have let them put the banana in my tailpipe and rode with it. I was young, full of vigor, and not really understanding the game. After that, it got blown that the group wasn’t together. It was really me having a problem with her not paying me. I talk to Lay, Krayzie, and Wish at the time. And I still write to Flesh. But being in the group, we don’t have anyone who really came to the table and gave the group a label deal. People had given other people label deals to see if they could come get us. But it’s never really worked, ‘cuz they’re trying to keep money on the side and they’re trying to take home two hundred thousand, take home three-fifty and use it as a context of, "You guys haven’t had an album out in a minute" and all the negativity to start extracting nickels and dimes from our paycheck. That’s the only thing that’s going on with Bone. That’s it. If someone steps to the plate, if a Bad Boy comes to the plate, if a Universal comes to the plate, if any of these big companies come to the table and say, "You know what, we like what you guys are doing, we want to make you guys comfortable, we want you guys to have a machine. We want five more years out of you guys," I’m quite sure Bone would sit down, look at them figures, look at that deal and say, "Finally fellas. We finally did it. Y’all wanna do it again? Hell yeah! Y’all still got it in you? Of course! Let’s go." AllHipHop: So basically the hype about you’re leaving the group was the label and the media? Bizzy Bone: Well, you know I think that had a lot to do with it. And I also think a part of that did wear off into some of my comrades. Because they made a few comments here and there. And I said some things here and there against them. That’s all in getting caught up. No one is exempt. By no means has any of us walked this path perfectly. So to say that it didn’t effect the group or individual members or the things that we said would be a bold lie. There were things said. But we started as crew. I will ride, I will die with you, I will kill with you. That’s how Bone Thugs & Harmony started. I’m stickin’ to that. AllHipHop: And when the time comes, don’t you think you’ll all come back hungrier because you’re such […]

AllHipHop: Eastern Conference represents for the past with Tame-One and RA the Rugged Man. How’d they approach you to actually put this record out? Akinyele: J-Zone put me up on them. He said they were a good label. At the same token, I knew [DJ Mighty-Mi] from a while ago. They were the only label who could understand what Akinyele once was. At first I was gonna do it with another label called Day By Day, but at the last minute, these guys they get scared. I wanted to do it on the independent side. I had to give this album to someone who knows Hip-Hop. If I didn’t, they wouldn’t know how to work it. This isn’t an album that’s gonna sell two million albums off the gate. But this album is a guaranteed album that we will make a dent in Rap history. Like, "Wow, and he came back with another V##### Diner classic." This album is called, Music Killz. The reason I [chose that], is when I listen to these old songs, they’re timeless. When you hear it, you won’t know. I hear a lot of voices in the record from people who were in the studio with me from around that time. And the sad thing is, me and a lot of those people don’t have relationships no more. That’s because the music killed the relationship. f*ck crack, music kills. You’ll die from music physically, mentally, or emotionally. Example – Dianna Ross was a Supreme. But she always tries to live being the person she once was. That kills a star emotionally and mentally. Or you go out like Biggie and Pac and the music kills you physically and literally. When Elvis was older, nobody was giving a f*ck about Elvis. Luckily he died and that kept his legacy alive. If If Q-Tip would have died years ago, he would have gone out as the Abstract Prince. But now, it’s killing him that the crowd is not feeling him anymore as much as they once was. Like the Jungle Brothers. If Tupac and Biggie was alive, they might not have been as popular as they are now. Look at Jay-Z. As high as he is, he’s still fizzling out. It’s in with the new right now. I don’t think Jay is retiring because he’s tired. I think he’s retiring because you’ve got the new 50 Cent’s and new mothaf*ckas getting a whole lot of notoriety, and he’s not number one no more. This album takes me back to the Rob Swift days, the Large Professor days, the Barbeque days, when me and Nas would take the train just hoping that people would actually feel what we did. It was just for the happiness, then all that joy is gone. Music killed it. AllHipHop: Speaking of Large Professor and Rob Swift, is there still that family bond? Akinyele: Me and Large Professor talk. Me and Rob Swift talk. Me and Dr. Butcher talk. We’re all pretty great friends. What it was when we first started, we were young kids having fun, making music, and all of us were the best at what we were doing. When we were doing albums, we didn’t know if we were the sh*t, or it was great, when we were doing albums, it was fun making it. I’m in the studio watching Large Professor make Breaking Atoms. We didn’t know it was gonna be a Hip-Hop classic. We went on tour with Large Professor. I remember, me and Nas, our per-diem was ten dollars a day. That was the world to us! To this day, me and Nas, we’re very close friends. I listen to the guys making this sh*t now, I like it. I don’t think it’s creative. But I like it. Yeah, I can say why the people like this sh*t. It’s nothing like when you hear "Ante Up" that makes you [shiver]. AllHipHop: A couple weeks ago, I write an editorial about collaborations. I cited "Live at the BBQ" as one of the last good ones. I know even recently you did a collaboration with Noreaga. In your opinion, what happened to the lost art of collaboration? Akinyele: I don’t really do collaborations with no one, really. Only reason I did one with Noreaga ’cause I had him growing up. Like I actually kinda damn near put him on. I used to have him and Capone in my van taking ’em from town to town. Noreaga was a younger guy. We both came out of Queens. I knew Nore when he was ten. A lot of people call me all over the world for collaborations, but I don’t even touch it. Because it’s not genuine. They like, "Drop sixteen and a hook, then eight and a hook." No, we gonna do it til’ it’s right. When we did, "Live At the BBQ", it was people just rhyming from their soul. Go til’ you tired. Nowadays it’s funny because back then you’d only do collaborations with people you knew and was on your caliber – and took the music as serious as you did. That’s what made it a friendship. Today the collabo’s are based on status. The money’s so different now. AllHipHop: definitely. Akinyele: You look at mothaf*ckin’ Melle-Mel, Kurtis Blow, and all these mothaf*ckas right now, and it’s like, no one gives a f*ck about them. My whole thing right now is I want to start a damn near Hip-Hop Union. We’ll start a union to the old rockers where everybody gives some money back off what they make. And if you don’t donate at least ten percent of your budget, Ak is coming after you. Start the revolution for a cause. Do I feel that I’m better than any f*ckin’ rapper out there? f*ck yeah! Do I feel like I can do metaphors around they ass all day? Yeah. AllHipHop: "Save that broke sh*t for an orthopedic cast." Akinyele: Exactly! That was my forte. When I watch […]

Will Smith’s acting caused most people to long forget his rapping. Much the same, Akinyele’s recent reputation for sexually explicit tracks allowed many to forget just how nice of a grimy MC this legend was. Ten years ago, his debut, V##### Diner was treasured by many a Hip-Hop purist – and still is. But due to label politics, the album was never allowed to shine as greatly as it deserved to. So Akinyele went another route, and as a result, even your little sister knows to "Put It In Your Mouth." The saying says if it ain’t broke, don’t fix, and Ak hasn’t for two following LP’s, and a movie. But the hardcore Hip-Hop never goes quietly. Akinyele was constantly bothered as to why he abandoned his original style. He waited until now, to reveal that he never really did. Akinyele is a Hip-Hop legend – so get knowin’. Check it out as Akinyele and AllHipHop remember the come up with Nas, Rob Swift, and Main Source. You’ll also get a great justification of why Ak did what he did, as well as an inside look into his new album of unreleased gems. He’s rude, and even in a simple interview, you might get offended. The great instigator, Akinyele. If you don’t feel him, he might just out-rock you at one of your shows. Recognize! AllHipHop: You’ve been labeled a misogynist. Maybe it’s true. But it’s funny that I constantly meet women who are very familiar with your work. That’s sort of a paradox to the criticism. How do you feel about your female audience, verse your male audience? Akinyele: I think overall it isn’t different, it’s the same – like whatever. When I do songs about sex, I try to do it in a fun manner, in a rude manner. Hip-Hop is just rude. Every Akinyele song from album one: V##### Diner has just been classic Hip-Hop, where I just felt like I was bein’ rude with everything. Everybody likes it. It’s almost like heroin. People do it, but you never know who [exactly does] it. It’s like parents. Nobody can actually visualize their mother actually giving their father head, but it happens! They can identify with it. It’s part of life. AllHipHop: All publicity is good publicity. Akinyele: Yeah, all pub is good pub and even when you have something to say about Ak, negative or good, you know what it’s about. At the end of the day, I feel like I conquered Hip-Hop – I hate to sound like one of those muthaf*ckas "Hip-Hop this, Hip-Hop that", but like, I feel like I just conquered, I made a statement. I got a song that’ll luckily play forever. Not ‘cuz it’s the greatest song in the world, but just luck. Rap is all luck. If there was a right way to do this, we’ll follow the guidelines and everybody would be rich. There’s a correct way to become a doctor. There’s a correct way to become a lawyer. But there’s not no correct way to have a record that’ll play almost when you’re long and gone. That’s all you can be fortunate for in this game. AllHipHop: Why was Put It In Your Mouth an EP, especially since that single was a hit before it was ever released? Akinyele: You know, it’s funny. Every song you do as an artist, you feel like it’s a hit. You love it. Every album I ever dropped that flopped, was still part of me. When you’re doing an album, it’s like having a baby – and having a miscarriage when it flops – it’s always part of you. Every song I ever did, I think it’s f*ckin’ fabulous. AllHipHop: You never tried to do filler. Akinyele: Right! I don’t try to do filler. I don’t think no artist is an artist who does filler, but some people just don’t take the time out to listen to it. Like me. I don’t like a lot people’s sh*t, but only when I’m taking a long road trip and I’m listening to they whole album, I’m like, "Wow, this is kinda okay." You kinda get to go into the artist’s dimension. So the reason I did an EP, was I just thought of making music that I liked at that time. Every song I make, I [think] if the people bite into this sh*t, it’s gonna get into their veins and gonna be heroin – that dope. At that time, it was funny because I wanted a gold album so bad. A gold something. So I said, "Let me do an EP. Because if I sell 250,00 EP’s – it’s considered gold." But right at that time I did it, the RIAA actually changed it and said, "Nah, 500,000." So I said, "f*ck it." AllHipHop: But the new album, Music Killz, we’re saying producers like Dr. Butcher, Large Professor, J-Zone, Buckwild. This is for the hardcore Hip-Hop. Akinyele: Right, this is for the writer. This album is dedicated to the Hip-Hop [journalist]. Because the number one question I always get is, "Why did you stray away from your first album?" In my heart, I strayed away from it because yeah, it’s fun, it’s cool. But I wanted to make songs that were cutting edge rude, and I had to make sure that Bow Wow and little mothaf*ckas coming up weren’t talking about the same sh*t ever. So on this album here, I got lost classic songs that I had recorded in 1994 and I did new songs with J-Zone, just to show – Hey, I can still do this type of stuff and it got a lot of live interactions with me and Rob Swift. I try to go back to the essence. I am Rap. I been doing this for a while with the DJ’s and turntables and all that. If this album doesn’t sell and work, then let’s get ready for the next album called, "Sex Sells" by Akinyele [laughing]. This album […]

Sign a record label deal. Record album. Release album. Instant riches. If the life of a rapper were that easy, a lot more folk would be in Maybachs canoodling their R&B song stress wife-to-be. Planet Asia will tell you in an instant, success comes from hard work. And with an album that just recently released, Asia has hit the streets in a major way. Allhiphop.com caught up with PA on the East coast in the middle of his promo tour and got an update from the West Coast rhyme-spitter. AllHipHop.com: The Grand Opening was released earlier this year. How is the album performing so far? Planet Asia: Well you know, we trying to keep these steady independent sales up you know what I’m saying? We have been selling like 1000 pieces a week on a regular you feel me? So n*ggas is almost like at 17,000 sold right now. You know, it’ s been out for like 6 or 7 weeks you know. The first week I sold like 2250 pieces, and that was only first week. AllHipHop.com: So are you happy with how its doing so far? PA: Yeah I am happy with it on an independent level man. I should be pretty cool by the time the whole run is over and we ain’t even that deep into the second single yet. We selling kind of cool and we don’t have that good of promotion you know? But if my fans is out there, they know it’s out now. So n*ggaz is picking it up left and right. Everybody telling me, "yo I bought that album homey." AllHipHop.com: How was the transition from being on the shelf at Interscope Records then coming right back to the Independent scene? PA: It was kind of discouraging for a little bit, but you just got to go through that sh*t man. I was like f*ck it, sh*t happens. It happens to the greatest man! It took Jigga and them hella years to get to where they got. They went from Payday to all kind of other labels. So it’s just like f*ck it. Right now I’m on the road man, so I’m on my grind homey. Anything beats selling crack in the hood! AllHipHop.com: What else do you have in the works for the rest of the year? PA: We got that Pro-Test Instrumentals coming out later this year called Checks In The City. He did “16 Bars Of Death” on my album. I checked the notes on my album and they didn’t give em the credit for the beat. So we really putting it down you know what I’m saying? Other than that ima just hit the road and do shows. AllHipHop.com: Tell me about your label Gold Chain Music? PA: Gold Chain Music is just representing that real Hip-Hop you know what I am saying, but from the sh*t where we came from. n*ggas ain’t really following what everybody else is doing, we just doing our own sh*t right now and that’s that. We 80’s babies so we represent that whole era. AllHipHop.com: Who’s apart of Gold Chain Music? PA: Me, that producer Pro-Test, Jean Grea, Roc Marciano (formerly of Flipmode), and my crew Yard Government. AllHipHop.com: The other day I heard you say Big Pun is your favorite MC. Explain why you side with Pun? PA: Cuz he repped the same era I rep. He’s a gold chain artist, he was on that B-Boy sh*t, you know what I’m saying. n*ggas couldn’t f*ck with Pun on the lyrics man. Till this day n*ggas can’t f*ck with Pun you know what I’m saying? He represented the embodiment of the Kool G Raps, the Rakims, and the Kanes man. AllHipHop.com: Hypothetically speaking of course, in a battle between BIG vs. Pun, who would you put your money on? PA: Damn, battlewise I don’t know, that would be a strong battle. I can’t front on BIG, cuz dude was nasty with his. But on the real like I said, I don’t think n*ggas could of f*cked with Pun, feel me? Pun was just straight raw with it. AllHipHop.com: On the album, you often say for other rappers to “get their bars up.” Why do you think most rappers today don’t focus on their lyrics? PA: Because right now it’s so easy to make a sing along hooks. When you making easy hooks, you don’t really got to rap no more. Everything is so hook oriented now-a-days that people focus more on writing something catchy then going hard with the lyrics man. AllHipHop.com: For the heads that don’t know about West Coast Indy Hip-Hop, give us a brief description of what’s going on in your hood? PA: The movement is still going strong man. The same cats that been putting down the last couple of years still going hard at it man. You got your Phil Da Agony’s, Self-Scientific, Krondon. You got the Yard Government, which is my crew. You got Encore also. He just dropped something out of Hiero label (The Layover). That sh*t is off the f*cking meter man! What else you got man…Yo you know Dilated Peoples is doing there thing right now man. I envision them doing gold with this new album man. Jurrasic 5 is most definitely large. Even Black Eye Peas went gold this year, ya feel me? So it’s like man, it’s really going down you know? Now I know my plaque gotta be coming sooner or later feel me? (Laughs) AllHipHop.com: Anything else you want to say? PA: Sh*t…..Hit me up, hit my website up. WWW.MCPLANETASIA.COM. Go cop The Grand Opening and make sure to check out that Pro-Test Instrumentals Checks In The City.

Cee-Lo Green is such a revolutionary lyricist, he’s ahead of himself, his peers and the bulk of MC’s to appear. But it is his past, not future, which has lead the Atlanta, Georgia rapper to the Goodie Mob, trading verses with comrades Outkast and Lauyrn Hill, and finally one of the most proficiently profound MCs in Hip Hop. Mainstream Hip Hop has been greedy with the accolades and the fame. Mr. Green’s flows have yet to break through the barriers created by typical style, stagnant subject matter, and uncreative art heard in regular rotation. Cee-Lo has not let these restraints become a barrier and recently released his second solo album, Cee-Lo Green Is The Soul Machine. His [r]evolution started within the revered group Goodie Mob, Outkast, Organized Noise and others, who formed the Atlanta-based collective The Dungeon Family. Soon thereafter, Atlanta’s place in Hip Hop was officially validated with hits like “Cell Therapy,” “Soul Food,” “Black Ice,” and other songs that gushed out of the camp. Paradise was lost after distance came between Cee-Lo and his former group mates T-Mo, Big Gipp, and Khujo after Goodie Mob’s disappointing third album World Party. Because of the more commercial vibe, Cee-Lo quietly sought solace in the creative freedom associated with being a solo artist. Cee-Lo explains, “Everybody doesn’t share the same business etiquette. My etiquette is to stay gone getting it and other individuals ultimately gonna have to catch up with that…The ones [members of the Dungeon Family] that have established namesake are still all you really notice, unless others work 5 or 6 times as hard for the true equilibrium to be showcased. No insult to anybody, but everybody’s working at their own pace.” A Cee-Lo-less Goodie Mob has completed a new album deemed One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show, an obvious jab at their former friend. Diplomatically, he says, “We still got love for each other and I still carry the banner of what we collectively stand for.” Goodie has typically stood for creative freedom, but Cee-Lo’s solo success was stagnated because of the eccentric (but praised) feel from his first album, Cee-Lo Green and His Perfect Imperfections. The singles and videos for “Freak” and “Getting Grown” pushed the envelope creatively and set up Outkast’s Andre 3000 to get down. “Its easier and simpler for me to complicate things than it is to simplify. People’s reactions to what I’ve done are helping me write the book.” Lo asserts. “Simplexicty is what my music is becoming. Perfect Imperfections was a full course meal and you had to be hungry to digest it “I’m just now coming to the realization that simplexcity (simplicity and complexity) is a law.” This change in philosophy is evident in his second effort, Cee-Lo Green Is the Soul Machine. Mellow compared to Perfect Imperfections, the new album offers the listener a glimpse of Lo’s softer, more soulful side. “This new album is a continuation of the first album. I am them both,” he says. The day to day is the data that I downloaded and then remaster Into a rapture. Abracadabra…born after. -The intro of Soul Machine Soul Machine has even mightier goals than mere inventiveness. “I’m old enough to be an elder, but young enough to be the youth. I straddle the fence and wish to be the bridge to the older generation. I’m better than I was yesterday. That’s what this album is about; trying to show the elders that we all didn’t miss it and show the youth that you can do it and get away with it,” he proclaims. By incorporating contemporary production and collaborations by The Neptunes, Timberland, TI, and Ludacris, Cee-Lo hopes to make his music more palatable to the stingy masses. On the other side, die-hard fans might cringe at some of these collaborations, but he isn’t overly concerned. “I regard all music as validated. Its ones own experience that can’t be denied. When its done and its heard, its immortalized: it be,” he yelps. Purposely, Cee-Lo Green stomps out another road less traveled and publicly displays his diverse talents on The Soul Machine. “Its just about as much voluntary as it is involuntary. I just can’t help myself.” Although Mr. Cee-Lo Green’s solo career does not yet course through the flow of mainstream success, he is content with his current place as and Hip Hop/Soul artist. He moves forward. With confidence, he says, “I’m not used to selling a lot of records. I’m used to following my heart and doing what I do. This is why I continue to praise God cause I’ve been able to make a career out of going against the grain.”

The Alchemist can barely conceal his excitement for his debut album project called 1st Infantry. When entering his mid-town Manhattan studio, the underground beat maestro’s beats are already pounding sounds to be featured his masterpiece. Still, despite crafting his masterwork, putting in work from the ground up and producing tracks for industry heavyweights such as Nas, Jadakiss, Mobb Deep, D-Block and Snoop Dogg, Al remains shrouded in mystery to the masses. These obscurities lead AllHipHop to him even though we’d connected several times before. The shroud of mystery is suddenly lifted as Alchemist reveals to us, several unreleased joints, his mixtape “Insomnia” and his extensive record collection. He’s put his records to good use too. The Alchemist is poised to unearth his skills to the general population and shed his underrated status in the upcoming months with work with Infamous Mobb, Mobb Deep and Lloyd Banks. Furthermore, he talked to AllHipHop’s Dynasty and Jigsaw about the music industry, success and why he decided to pick up the mic (again). Allhiphop.com: Being originally from the West coast, what brought you to the East? Allhiphop.com: It was actually to go to school first. I went to college here. I had been here before a while ago with my mother. I forget the year but this was when break dancing was still out. That really got me open. I was only shopping to go to school in New York. Allhiphop.com: You started your career with Cypress Hill, was that before or after school? ALC: That was before when I was about 13. That’s how I got my start with them, The Soul Assassins, Muggs, House of Pain, Funkdoobiest. Allhiphop.com: Whats your relationship like with them now? ALC: It’s all family , I still got the ring on my hand ( shows Soul Assassins ring with initials SA on it) I still keep the pictures up. It all came full circle now because I did something for the new Cypress Hill album. I had always did remixes over the years and did stuff for Muggs but it was like, It feel like what I always looked forward to when I moved out here to do my own thing. I’m gonna always represent Soul Assassins but I want to be large enough to pass stuff off with Muggs. One day to do a beat on Cypress Hill’s album, that’s like full circle to me. Allhiphop.com: You used to rhyme too, was when did you decide to do music? ALC: I started rappin first, I was always leaning towards the music. The other guy in the group was always the visual and the hype man on stage and it was always me writing the rhymes and doing the music. Allhiphop.com: That was with the Wholigans, right? ALC: Yea , then after I got my record deal, I got some paper, and Lethal who is a dude from House of Pain, the dj, he did a lot of our beats, he showed me a lot too. He was one of Muggs understudies at the time too. House of Pain blew up and so goes the story. He took me to the Guitar Center right after we got our deal and was like “Buy this, ASR 10” I didn’t even know what it was at the time, everybody had a sp-12. Muggs used to lay out 6 Sps set up. He was known for that dusty sound. I didn’t even know what a ASR was but I just stuck with it. I still use it. Allhiphop.com: Did you ever think about using other equipment ALC: I already know how to use it well so I don’t have to think about what I have to do. I guess in that essence, I’m still a little lazy, so I don’t really want to get into another machine yet. I haven’t really mastered the ASR yet, but for what I do, I don’t think anybody can do it how I can do it. When I make beats with the ASR, I don’t even have to think about it, I could do it in the dark. Allhiphop.com: Cypress Hill and Mobb Deep are two different forms of hip hop, how did that jump happen? ALC: When you really analyze it Cypress and Muggs connected me to Mobb and it was a growth project. As I moved to New York, around that time, Muggs was doing the Soul Assassins project album and he reached out to Mobb Deep. It was like all of our favorite artist and Bigga B, he was instrumental on the west coast, at that time he was doing work with Muggs and connected Muggs with the Mobb. So, while I was in New York, Muggs had made the connection with Mobb Deep and did a song for his album and also Mobb’s clique, The Infamous Mobb. Muggs was real excited about working with the Infamous Mobb as well because they were young exciting groups. So Muggs made a relationship with them and that’s how I first met those guys. I started to make a little name for myself and Muggs was working on the Soul Assassins two album. He was like “Yo I want you to do a beat for the infamous Mobb” , that was “Thug Muzic” and it ended up on the Mobb Deep album, it was really meant for Mugg’s album. They liked it so much, they let P hear it and that’s how I ended up meeting them. It took a while us to click because they were never together at the same time. I remember this one dat I had and it was like 15 beats on there. I played it for them and on two different occasions, Hav and P both liked the same beat. That was “The Realest” with G Rap. They both leaned to that beat. P called me one night and was like “yo come to the studio and bring that beat you were playin” They didn’t even tell me […]

AllHipHop represents for those who can recite a verse from beginning to end, those who quote lyrics to explain serious life situations, and those who have an arsenal of punch-line snaps in they raps. But AllHipHop has just as much love for the producer. From eight bar loops, to live instrumentation, to the Triton, we love true beat makers and trunk shakers. AllHipHop’s Paine has kicked off a series of interviews with the greatest, most innovative producers in Hip-Hop history. In depth interviews looking back, looking forward, and always looking for the perfect beat. We continue the series with Easy Mo Bee. Mo Bee stands firmly at the line where hits meet streets. Perhaps no Hip-Hop producer better makes the "ballad" better. From producing half of Ready to Die, to producing some of Tupac’s most artistic works, and giving Craig Mack the heat that put Bad Boy on the map, Moe Bee has a dynamite resume. But beyond that, Moe Bee is a Grammy winning producer for Miles Davis’ Doo Hop album. Miles had an unbending eye for talent, and Moe Bee is proof of that. Without a doubt, Mo Bee is a man who just drips of soul. While stern in his grave approach to the music he makes, it’s not uncommon for him to break out into song, or hum the notes (in damn near perfect pitch) of a dusty Jazz classic. This is a man who aspires to play every instrument in the band, and know every groove ever released. Don’t tell Masta Ace, but Easy Mo Bee is Hip-Hop’s official "Music Man." Die-hard fans have always argued the two pillar sounds of the music – Dre vs. Premier. While both are timeless masters of their craft, right in between stands Easy Moe Bee. A man who combines the glitter and the grime to a beautiful finish that makes even the greatest MC’s, sound worlds better. AllHipHop: One thing that no producer in Hip-Hop has done better than you, is put emotion into the track. How emotional do you get in the process, and do you plan out these effects before? Easy Mo Bee: Wow! First of all, the emotion you’re talking about, as far as I’m concerned, is soul. I get a lot of from my father. It all goes back to the different music that [he] used to play. A lot of Blues, Soul, Jazz, real traditional Gospel, Shirley Ceasar, Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, Bobby Bland, Elmore James, B.B. King. Real, real grimy forms of the music. That’s where all of the musical taste and experience comes from. I just grew up with it, and I went on to being a DJ myself, playing records. From there, I went on to make records, and that’s when I became a producer. AllHipHop: I never realized that you produced Miles Davis last album. What did you learn from the man? EMB: You don’t have to always be perfect. I watched him, he and Tupac, they had a particular recording process, and that is like – when they started recording, they didn’t want you to stop, and they didn’t like to do punch-ins. In other words, a song typically has three verses. And Tupac and Miles would have you start the tape and let it run all the way through the song. "Don’t stop. Don’t punch me," in other words. Some people do a verse and stop, and do a second. Miles did not like to stop. [Of the songs on Doo-Bop], he nailed in one take. If there’s anything I got from him in those sessions, it’s you don’t have to be perfect. Just be yourself and put all of your heart and soul into it. And most importantly, your point will get across. There’s a lot of great records with mistakes on ’em. James Brown got a lot of records like that, where the bass player would mess up or something. AllHipHop: Do you think those mistakes yield a vulnerability that makes good Hip-Hop? EMB: Well, I think the art of freestyling has almost been outlawed. Most of your favorite rappers nowadays, most of they raps are pre-written. There’s not too many people that just freestyle, or improvise on a record. Now, ODB or Dirt McGirt, do you know a lot of the records ODB made were improvised? Live, on the spot. Yeah. AllHipHop: Isn’t that largely true of Biggie’s Ready to Die too? EMB: Well, what Biggie would have, just like Jay-Z, he didn’t really write down too much either. A lot of times he went into the booth. You’ll see him sitting there for the last hour, forty-five minutes, hour and ten minutes, just mumbling to himself, nodding his head. He ain’t writing nothing down. Then, he just jump up, "Aiight Mo, I’m ready." He’d go in there and nail every verse down. As far as I’m concerned, that’s improvising. It’s recorded, but recorded in the minute. Busta Rhymes is very good at that, I worked with him before. Who else? You know who was very improvisational? Tupac. I watched him in the studio between sessions, and he would just spit, what I would call, reality raps. The average East Coast rapper, when he freestyles, he’s freestyling some braggodocious, material, this and that. But Tupac, it amazed me, he had the ability to freestyle reality type raps. He’d talk about what’s going on in the world, police brutality, whatever. AllHipHop: You can see that in the freestyle with Biggie and Kane. The way Big did it, and the way Pac did it. Night and day. Both amazing. EMB: Right. Exactly. AllHipHop: A key element of Ready to Die was its concept. Was that your idea, as the main producer? Were there any other ideas on the table? EMB: Actually, the concept of the album, that was Puffy and Biggie’s alone. I didn’t have anything to do with the actual concept on the album. I did [half] the album. Pre that, on the Who’s […]

If skills sold, Jadakiss would be a superstar. Lyrically, there’s no denying the talent of the Yonkers-bred rapper. “Big told me I’m nice. Hova. Nas.” he says. “All the people I’ve been looking up to for years.” Skills alone, however, won’t guarantee ‘Kiss the success he desires. He wants to do five mil. But in order for Jada to transcend hip-hop middle ground and launch into the trajectory of New York’s holy trinity of emcees, he has to deliver a classic album. His debut, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye, produced uneven results as he attempted to be everything to everyone. With the forthcoming Kiss Of Death, the sharp-shooting rapper tells AllHipHop.com the messages in his songs are certain to shock as he opens about his family, friends, and his son’s growth. This is what he’s about. AllHipHop.com: Now that’s you’re embarking on your second album, what are your thoughts on how your debut turned out? Jadakiss: I loved it. I appreciated it and all that, but I just knew that something was missing in there. Not the music, per se, but the machine. That’s the only thing that I feel was really missing. It did 200 [thousand] something the first week. And my s**t was out for about two months prior! But I still didn’t feel I had the Interscope love behind me. AllHipHop.com: Do you think it’s different now? Jadakiss: Yeah, yeah, that’s definitely different now. I had to present the music to Jimmy Iovine, the whole L.A. staff. There’s a whole bunch of people that was there last time that I wasn’t even introduced to them, so that alone showed me that they with me. All I got to do is deliver the music and once the machine is behind me and I’m ready to work, I should be good. AllHipHop.com: When you said you got them behind you, was that something you did yourself? Did you go around introducing yourself to everybody? Or did they step up? Jadakiss: I think I was pretty much of an a**hole last time. I don’t know what it was. This is a game that goes off of relationships and favors and there’s a lot of emotions involved. Last time Ruff Ryders was more hotter than they are now, so it could have been that. I don’t know what it was, but whatever it is I’m trying to keep that relationship sealed airtight. AllHipHop.com: I heard you on Funk Flex’s show on Hot 97 recently and you were disgruntled about the industry and your career. I’d be correct in saying you want to be a bigger star than you are right now, right? Jadakiss: No doubt. AllHipHop.com: Considering that then, why do you stay out of the limelight and lay low? People say nobody really knows you as a person. Jadakiss: I been laying low for a while, because I want everything right. I’m a Gemini, so sometimes I can flip and be hands on, but for the most part I just like say, F*ck it, and fall back. And I do something else or just stay away. [Pauses to think] This time…I don’t know, man. It’s just…I don’t know. You gotta…. I really was getting my business right. No matter how much you think you learn there’s still a whole bunch of other sh*t you got that takes place. I was getting my manager right. My lawyer right. Just trying to get the whole movement right, so I can become that star that I wanna be. And just take it and run with from here. Because I’m fortunate to always have a second chance or a third chance or whatever the opportunity is that I got. I know I ain’t gonna keep getting it. So I just wanna be right. As far as being the star I wanna be, I am the star I wanna be. AllHipHop.com: Or maybe deserve to be… Jadakiss: Nah, I understand what you saying, but it’s the people. People come up to me, “Yo, you’re crazy.” And that sh*t just starts f*cking with me after a while. I’m just waiting for the sh*t to fall in place. Ain’t nothing come easy. Like, it takes a special person to grind. I did field work. I played the soldier. I did this and that, that and this. It’s my just due. It’s what’s rightfully owed to me. AllHipHop.com: Now that each member of the Lox put out a solo album, how would you rank them? Jadakiss: Mine sold the most, and then came Styles, and then came Louch. But Styles recouped. Me and Louch didn’t. Styles stayed under budget and all that. That’s a pointer that I got from him. And now this album I got way money left over. I actually had a bigger budget on my first album. We went to Miami, big mansion, big rental car, big living it up, maids, and butlers. That was an experience. That’s what’s good about the Lox, we teach each other. I did all that and SP was able to share that experience and then when he did his s### he kept it straight in the studio. He recouped, so I learned that for this one. I ain’t gonna live it up that much. I’ma stay in here and grind out and next one we have our own s### and make the album in Brazil! You got to learn off your mistakes and what people is doing. And just take it and be positive and take it to the next level. AllHipHop.com: Why a ‘Kiss album and not another Lox album? Jadakiss: Basically, that’s how Interscope wanted it right now. They want the Lox album, don’t get me wrong. They want that s###, but it just be us pushing it off and everything. AllHipHop.com: Topically, where are you going on this album? Jadakiss: Just personal, like giving you more of my life, more current events, more grown up. All the family asking for money, my n##### getting locked up, and […]

Big business is the cornerstone of Master P’s success, but it’s been his artistry that’s made him the legend he is. But, while P acknowledges haters that pray for his downfall, he also recognizes the New No Limit Tank must roll on. Here, one Percy Miller discusses business, love & hate, his “bankruptcy” and his 10th solo CD Good Side Bad Side, which comes with a full movie DVD. [In the second half of the story P talks about his rap dynasty, the No Limit defectors and politics.] AllHipHop.com: You working this album like crazy right now, huh? Master P (Click For Exclusive Audio): Oh yea we are on a roll. It’s the biggest record we put out. The buzz on the street is crazy. The album is already gold. It got that real on this record. Nothing out there is real. It’s gonna be around a real long time. It ain’t nothing out there solid like this. The same way we started the old No Limit, with the Ice Cream man and it caught on from there, there’s nothing harder than this on that level. I am keeping it real with my people. I can go from hangin’ with my son to hangin’ in the hood. The biggest thing with this record is letting people know not to be afraid. You cant be number one all the time. Real hustlers might lose it but get it back easy. After 10 years and 75 million records sold and still able to put out this type of gutter music, I couldn’t do it until my son got his self straight because he wanted the TV show. I consider my son a role model. I consider myself an inspiration because I’m not perfect. I come from the ghetto, showing these kids don’t be afraid to make it out. Most people glorify that they gotta stay in the hood to keep it real. But I’m like you can keep it real and make it out. People still gonna respect you. It’s about getting the money and having something that you are willing to love. AllHipHop.com: We reported the album was gold in one week, but it shipped gold, right? It hasn’t sold gold, correct? We been going back and forth on this and we are confused about what the numbers are. MP: The album is gold. When you put out a record [like this], you got a double CD and a movie. The album is certified gold. AllHipHop.com: Other reports said it sold about 70,000. I’m just saying because we started getting emails from people about it. MP: You gotta double CD and a movie and the album is gold. It’s certified gold. You will see it on Billboard certified. AllHipHop.com: OK, so we got that out of the way. You have a lot of businesses going on and what advice do you give to others that are trying to expand their business? MP: Follow you dreams. Like with me. Look at the money everyone spends on their money to sell a record. They got program directors in their offices trying to play doctor. “this record is good, this record is bad.” You cant get into that. You gotta get into what the streets like. Then they will be forced to play it. I been the king of the mountain so long and people want you to fall off and the underdog they want them to come up. That’s why every year, someone else gets an opportunity. Long as I can put out platinum music, I will put it out to the streets. They will dictate if you still got it or not. The economy is so bad, I aint gonna put the same kind of money Usher and them are putting behind their records. They not gonna make money off selling records. They will make it off trying to tour, cause they spent so many marketing dollars. You gotta spend millions to a radio station to get those kind of spins. We not about to do that. Stay focused and believe in yourself. AllHipHop.com: How do you deal with the hate that comes along with being in your position? MP: I just keep at it and do what I love to do. If someone sits around hating because your success, they are just wasting time. I don’t entertain controversy or hate. I reach towards my goals. That hating sh*t don’t phase me. I deal with haters when I see them. It makes you less than a man talking about someone hating on you. Why the knock me, I am still moving, ten years at the same pace. I’m on TV, the radio, I’m being bumped in their cars. AllHipHop.com: A lot of the songs I like, Like the Lil Jon joint and the other one, “Who wants some.” It sounds like P is back in form. MP: That’s good. It’s more real people than fake people. You keep moving. After a motherf*cker gets the bullsh*t and the hype, they gonna come back to the real sh*t. This sh*t here is the real sh*t. It takes a real man or woman to accept reality. N*ggas that keep it real can sleep good at night. N*ggas might be tossin and turning because they living a f*cked up life. If your right your right and if your wrong your wrong. Ain’t nobody making these kinds of songs right now. They are rowdy songs but they got meaning. I come from the hood, it’s all real. AllHipHop.com: What’s the movie included with the album about? MP: It’s a full movie included with the album. It’s history. I call it a 3-for-1. It’s the first album with a double CD and a full movie. The movie is about making decisions. Romeo and my other son is in the movie. I play a character on house arrest. My mom smokes crack and I am trying to survive. Probation officers checking on me. If I make the right decisions […]

Master P talks about the ups and down of having a foot in the hood and another in the boardroom. AllHipHop.com: What’s the status of the New No Limit, who do you have signed and where are you taking it? Master P: I’ma tell you something. My hustling skills are too good. They know where I am going to take this. With nothing. No big promotions, just putting out good music. I was so country people didn’t want to listen to my music. It didn’t stop me. When the real people caught on, that’s the street word of mouth. Everybody knows this Master P album is real. This sh*t is for real. At the end of the day you are going to have to bend down. AllHipHop.com: What’s going on with Silkk? MP: He’s working on his album right now and a new one is coming from Lil Romeo too. The New No Limit is me Silkk, Rome, Official and Currency. We definitely got our hands full. We are going to put out all solid, street records. Romeo is the only cross over record we are going to put out this year. We toned it down to get what we need. But we built an incredible empire. Now it’s time for us to do us. AllHipHop.com: How is C-Murder doing mentally? MP: It could happen to anyone of us. If you’re an innocent man and your going through what C is going through, he’s a soldier. He realizes this is what happens when you aren’t focused. He aint gonna sit around and cry about it All we can do is pray. You might get hit by a car and it takes your legs off, you gotta live with it, you were dealt a bad hand. When your out here, you gotta make the best of it. C is a gangster. He aint tripping, but he knows he’s innocent and got a bad hand. The man up above will make sure the truth comes out. In the long run, we gonna get the last laugh. AllHipHop.com: There are some things about the case that made you guys appeal. MP: The district attorney let people out of jail with bad records to testify. They had a camera in the club, why don’t they show the videotape? They know the DA tampered with the evidence. C is stereotyped because of his name. You gotta know what to name yourself, gotta watch the people you hang with and the environment your in. You never think about non of that stuff while you are just out here. When your making money, you gotta mature at some level in the game. I’m trying to teach kids now, there’s no such thing as keeping it real. You gotta keep it real with yourself. You being in the hood or even making it out isn’t keeping it real. Going back and trying to save some of these kids is keeping it real. AllHipHop.com: How did you manage to do the Nickelodeon thing? We know P’s background with music, he managed to get himself and Lil Romeo on a kids network? MP: That’s what you gotta respect with me. I aint afraid to go out of my boundaries. We got a whole new audience. I got a good and a bad side. I aint afraid to tell Nickelodeon I come from the streets. But I can clean myself up to be with my son. I can do that, I don’t have nothing to prove. N*gga damn right I’m going on Nickelodeon with my son. I’m gonna get this money. Aint none of yall gonna feed me. I’ll do anything for my son. The hood aint going no where. I love it and it aint going no where, but I aint gonna let it take me down. I wouldn’t stop any one else. You could be the biggest gangster in the world, but you take the opportunity. If one of them shows opens up and is gonna pay for you? You better go for it and I’ll be the first one to applaud you. That’s not real. Only a hater would say “stay in the hood and die with us.” When we was on the streets we would have done anything for our families. Now Romeo could be the next Will Smith. We made history in Hip-Hop. The first father and son on TV in Hip-Hop. A thug off the street and corporate America accept me? Acting is just a job, it’s like watching Steven Seagull. He don’t kill people in real life. That’s how I look at it. I am getting millions of dollars to act. We changed our lives, but sure aint forget. Don’t think that cause we doing right you can step on our toes. This sh*t is like riding a bike, we still no how to thug, but we coming in peace. AllHipHop.com: How do you keep Romeo grounded? MP: I take him to the projects and show him where we come from. If you don’t handle your business, this where you could be tomorrow. When he sees one of his cousin’s funerals that was still in the hood, he knows what’s up. He knows it’s blessed. We still go to funerals in the hood. When your black with money, you still gotta know how to survive and handle yourselves on the street. He knows he’s blessed. White people don’t have to worry about people coming up to them and jackin them when they get rich. AllHipHop.com: What do you think of some of the people that left No Limit? MP: Everybody should read into it. If all them people said No Limit because of P, why is he success 10 years later and all those people that went other places had opportunities, why are they not doing nothing? You goin on 5 six years later, why you still talking about P instead of your records that aren’t selling? All the sh*t you said about em, […]

What up y’all, my name is Saigon aka 96A0549 aka The Yardfather. I am a big fan of AllHipHop.com and up until today highly respected the views and validity of the site. Someone notified me today that there was a review of “Warning Shots” on the site. First of all, “Warning Shots” is not my debut album but rather a collection of the work I’ve been doing on the mixtape/underground circuit that has garnered love and respect from hip-hop heads all over the world. AllHipHop.com gave the disc 3 and a half stars, which is not at all bad. I could’ve lived with that. But once I read the review I had a serious problem with some of the things this guy Paine stated about me as well as my music. One, because it’s totally contrary to reality. He stated the disc had a lackluster beginning. But isn’t it ironic that the first 7 songs on the CD are the songs that got me all this attention I’ve been getting e.g.: nominations for mixtape artist of the year, the cover of Elemental Magazine, numerous Source articles, XXL article and many, many more? I purposely put my best songs first on the CD and this guy says it has a lackluster beginning… WOW. Secondly he stated that I tried to make radio and club songs and failed at it. Then he goes on to say if I could make radio songs, wouldn’t I have been a national star right now? The one reason I don’t have a deal is because I refuse to cater to industry standards and make songs for radio or for the club. But this guy goes on to say that I try and fail at it. I make music from the heart. That statement was like a slap in the face to me. I’ve done all this work on my own, never had any label support, never any money behind me… just my sheer will and determination to win. You’re never gonna see a guy with no major money behind him become a national star, just like you’ll never again see a guy with no record deal or any money behind him be able to tour the world and have such a huge following as I do. He kinda discredited all the hard work I’ve done with some of his statements. If my lyrics are “run of the mill bus stop lyrics,” then why aren’t those kids at the bus stop where I am? Because once again I state that I don’t have a record deal, never have and don’t care if I never do because enough real people support Saigon and recognize the real. I’m not hurting for money so I’m alright. Whoever this kid Paine is, you guys need to make him go study hip-hop some more, cause it’s obvious he wasn’t born into this way of life. I have tons of respect for a lot of guys at AllHipHop.com. My man Jigsaw helped my career greatly and I love what he’s doing for hip-hop. But I must say this was irresponsible journalism at its finest. Paine should have been bigging me up for all my achievements to show them rappers at the bus stop that you don’t need a record label to get yourself out there. Instead he tries to bash me because I’m not a “national star” cause I can’t make radio records. Like I couldn’t have thought of “err body in the club getting tipsy” yeah… okay. Due to my respect for the guys at All Hip-Hop I won’t say what’s on my heart. I’ll say what’s on my mind. If I said what’s on my heart it wouldn’t be this clean. And as for Paine, someone needs to be over his shoulder when he reviews these CD’s… He’s playing with people’s lives. We put it in a lot of work…too much to let some new school corporate hip-hop guy discredit it… He needs to listen to the Whoo Kid freestyle again…ha ha. ONE [Editor’s note: Paine has been a valued writer at AllHipHop.com for years and we have found him to be an asset to the team. He’s been down with real hip-hop even though he and Saigon have a pointed difference of opinion about “Warning Shots.” We feel our staffers are knowledgeable enough to be entitled to their opinion about the music, the culture and the artists. We don’t attempt to stifle those opinions. In the same vein, we are willing to let artists express their views, even if they are critical of what we do. All parties agree that Warning Shots is worth your money so please support Saigon and other emcees pushing hip-hop to new heights.]

How often do you see one man willing to shoulder the burden of returning the West Coast back to Hip-Hop immortality? The man that has the talent and the gumption to take on such a venture has yet to even sign a major record deal. Scipio (pronounced SIP-PEE-OH) has thus far shown that the backing of a major label is not exactly necessary to get mainstream appeal. Flaunting endorsements from K-Swiss, Meoshe, and bleeding the confidence that is required to make a dent in this industry, Scipio has laid his cards on the table and dares anyone to “re-up.” In a recent discussion with Allhiphop.com., he discussed his burgeoning career, how he plans to bring California Hip-Hop back to the promised land, and big plans that lie ahead, all of which includes the currently incarcerated Ras Kass. West Up! Allhiphop.com: Your name seems to be attracting a lot of attention in California. Talk about what you have got in the works right now. Scipio: The mixtape came out and it did real good, man. The single (Work Wit It) was playing on Power 106 and 100.3 The Beat (Los Angeles), which is big because I’m unsigned. You never see unsigned artists come out like that, you know? Allhiphop.com: I’ve heard on several occasions that 100.3 The Beat has all the makings of a bureaucracy. How tough was it for you to get the single on the air, especially being unsigned like you previously mentioned? Scipio: I’ve been hustling for a minute, dog. I hosted a Sunkist tour, and it was held in L.A. Sunkist hired The Beat one year and they hired Power another year. A lot of people know me through the streets, like when me and Ras (Kass) used to go the station when he had his radio interviews. We used to go up there and freestyle and s**t like that. But, I knew a lot of people that I met on my own when I was hosting the tour. They liked me as a person on top of what I did as an artist. It’s just building those relationships, and those relationships are the most important. Allhiphop.com: That is very true, because you never know who has the juice to get things pushed through at these major radio outlets. Scipio: There are a lot of good people up there, though. They show a lot of love up there. Allhiphop.com: What type of buzz and responses have you gotten personally from the single? Scipio: I’ve gotten big responses from the single, man. We are in the #2 market out here in L.A., and for them to be spinning my s**t is big. I’m dirt hustling, man, me and my folks. I think the most spins I reached in L.A. was 20 spins in a week. Allhiphop.com: That should not be taken lightly because you do not have the major machine pushing for favors from the programming directors. Scipio: That’s a blessing. Allhiphop.com: Do you have any words you can offer about the new upcoming album? Scipio: I got a banger I’m about to beat muthaf**kas over the head with real soon. Probably around June or July, somewhere in there. I’m working with some multi-platinum producers also on some real love s**t. Allhiphop.com: My publication interviewed Ras Kass sometime ago, and he said “He’s not my protégé for one, he’s his own man, he’s just a good cat that ain’t a snake, I try to keep good company around me, good energy. I’m really happy man ’cause he got the talent, and he ain’t gotta fall into the pitfalls that I fell into.”* Describe the real relationship between you and Ras, because I am sure a lot of people just think you came up underneath him. Scipio: Ras is like my brother, man. He’s a real ni**a, and he’s going to shoot it straight. He ain’t the type of ni**a that’s going to get his s**t off and keep a ni**a stationary. He always put me up on game, and he’s been like a mentor to me. He never hid anything from me, and every time we used to go out and do shows, he dropped change in my pocket. That’s on some love s**t. He basically showed me the ropes to the other side of the game. He shed some light on a lot of my perspective on the industry. Our relationship goes beyond Hip-Hop, man. We own a company together, so we are going to get this money, work together and all of that. Allhiphop.com: Do you think the West Coast is in a slumber in terms of the quality of Hip-Hop they are putting out right now? Scipio: I don’t think we are in a slumber, but right now it’s all about rebuilding. Like down South, they are just starting back getting hot, and they have been doing their thing, banging them out. They are staying unified and all of that. You have to reinvent yourself every so often, and Hip-Hop itself has to reinvent itself. That’s what we are doing right now. We’ve got a pretty cool grasp on it, and I know all the young spitters that’s coming up. They all know me as well, so we’re about to build it back. No one man can bring the West back by himself. It’s taking unity, and that’s what I’m seeing right now, so it’s a whole new West, you know what I’m saying? Allhiphop.com: When you finally get that major deal with the multi-million dollar budget, what artists and producers are looking forward to working with first? Scipio: I haven’t hashed that out yet, but I’m the type of person that likes to grow with people, you know what I’m saying? The people that showed me love when I didn’t have s**t, that’s who I’m looking to f**k with when I got s**t. Of course, I might need some big name production, but I feel like the people I’m dealing with can give me […]

When preparing to meet a legend, we’re never quite sure what to expect. On the one hand, we tend to be nervous. After all, here is someone who’s found a way to not only outlive their peers, in whatever arena they might operate, but who’s also done so well in their field as to stand out, be noticed, and inspire an entire generation, if not two. Add to that the fact that these are Hip-Hop legends, and panic may ensue. Rappers are not really known for their humility. But legends, living legends in particular, rarely place themselves on a pedestal. And Eightball and MJG are no exception to that rule. The Memphis duo has consistently released an album almost each year for the past 10 years. While the music industry lived out it’s on again, off again, relationship with the South, they’ve remained on the grind, forging the way for everyone from Master P to T.I. In the process, their music brings you home. After having developed their brand of “space-age pimpin,” Ball & G seem to make music that is left up to listener to interpret. They’re not forcing anything on you. They’re not suggesting you go into a life of crime. They’re just telling you what their lives were like. “At the end of the day, “ says MJG, “whether the day was good or bad or whatever, this our outlet right now.” And this is exactly what you get when an MC is in the game for the love of the music. When 8Ball and MJG released their first album, 1993’s Comin’ Out Hard, there was no MTV Cribs and platinum plaques were not an expectation rappers had to deal with. But perhaps that actual climate is what limited their success and led to a mainstream recognition ten years in the making. As 8Ball sees it, “Everything happen for a reason, I guess. We just did what we did, it’s just looked at like that now. But it wasn’t looked at like that then, cuz everybody was really finding they place –the South, the East, the West – at one time. We get something, we love it for a minute, and then we want something else. That’s just how everything been. You know this same Southern explosion has happened time over again, this just another time in history.” That Southern explosion has definitely returned. Heralded by Lil’ Jon crunk-mania, label’s are now scrambling for a piece of the Dirty. Bad Boy Records is no different. Two years before the infatuation with crunk music truly took hold, the label snatched up 8Ball and MJG in a surprising, if not baffling, power move. First we wondered how such a marriage could occur. For one executive at Bad Boy, it seemingly makes perfect sense: “8Ball and MJG are to down South what Biggie was to New York and what Tupac was to the West Coast.” For Ball and G themselves, the recognition of their worth is just an added bonus. Their original motivation was simply their music. AllHipHop.com: Now, I read an interview that you did right after signing with Bad Boy, and you were talking about the freedom and the creative control. So now two years later, is that working out the way that you had expected it to? MJG: Yeah. Pretty much. We picked whatever we wanna to be on, came up with our own concept, and you know, went our own direction with each song. AllHipHop.com: Everybody’s heard stories, everybody knows, it’s been very publicized of the artists that weren’t happy with Bad Boy. Is that something that you were worried about coming into the situation? 8Ball: Not really, I mean we kinda came in and kinda stated everything that we really wanted to happen. And that’s why we here. Creative control and recognition of talent is exactly what was missing with each of 8Ball and MJG’s last to label homes, Suave House and JCOR. With Suave, explains MJG, “We didn’t have any control over business or nothing like that. And we were the first and ever artists on the label to go nationwide with it. So we were like their artists to even make the label to be a label. But, we didn’t have equal share of it like that. And, we just had to move on.” JCOR, on the other hand, was presented with what may have actually been one of the most slept on albums of the South: 2000’s Space Age 4 Eva. Yet the album’s sales came no where close to the critical acclaim it received. “[JCOR] was making a lot of wrong decisions on the promotional side, on the marketing side,” says 8Ball of the mistakes made with the classical album. “Then a lot of the background stuff that they was doing, like a lot of the other things that they was doing was taking away from what they shoulda been doing with us. And then you know like, you get this bum rap in the “industry” because you miss a couple of interviews and s###, for reasons that people think… People think just because they see us smoking weed all the time or we look like we high all the time, that’s what we doin’ all the time. They didn’t really understand that a lot of the s### we was missing was because of life going on. And they kinda gave us a bum rap on that, and really didn’t get behind us like they should’ve. They didn’t know what they had.” So now the only question left is that of the music that will come from the marriage of 8Ball & MJG, Memphis Pioneers, and Bad Boy Records, home of Making the Band and creating the artist. “Now we trying to really drill it into Bad Boy, Universal already know,” continues 8Ball. “If we get the same promotions and marketing, and the push that the average group that they sign get, the proof is in the pudding: they’ll see what […]

Wyclef Jean, aka “The Preacher’s Son” was recently in Miami shooting the video for his next single from The Preacher’s Son album, “Who Gave The Order” featuring Buju Banton. AHH’s Miami correspondent was on the scene to get Clef’s thoughts on the struggle in Haiti, our upcoming Presidential election, the possibility of a Fugee’s reunion and more. Peep it. AllHipHop.com: How do you feel about the current situation in Haiti? Wyclef: What’s goin on right now, let bygones be bygones. What’s done is done; it’s all about moving forward. And the way we gonna move forward is to take the Haitians around the world. And it’s gonna take the world helping Haiti, it’s gonna take the whole Caribbean coming in. The United Nations, all of the nations coming into Haiti. Not just for 6 months. The government of Haiti has to feel like they being policed right now by the UN. The Haitian government has to feel like there is an alternate force that’s policing them; it’s all law and order. AllHipHop.com: You’ve expressed support for the Haitian rebels. Was there anything in particular you disliked about Aristide’s administration? W: No no no, that’s a misquote. What I said was that I don’t like people saying “rebels”. What happened is… the majority of the situation is, that there is a civil war going on. I don’t support anything that is criminal activity. I support the people and I support jobs. Know what I mean? Right now it’s about trying to form a new Haiti. AllHipHop.com: Was Aristide in power when you had your ground breaking concert in Haiti? W: No, the president in power was Rene Preval, but he was under the supervision of Aristide. AllHipHop.com: Why didn’t you shoot this video in Haiti? W: This video right here could not be shot in Haiti because of everything that’s goin’ on over there right now, it’s too crazy. AllHipHop.com: What are your thoughts about the upcoming U.S. presidential election? W: All I can tell you is, my next album is called Silent But Deadly. And the first single is called “If I Was President”. I’m not sure if you caught it on the Dave Chappelle Show… AllHipHop.com: Nah I think I missed it… W: …Ok, I’ma give you the first 4 lines: If I was president, I’d get elected on Friday, assassinated on Saturday, buried on Sunday, and go back to work on Monday. Aight? AllHipHop.com: What do you think about John Kerry saying he understands hip-hop and the culture? W: I mean, I think somebody coached Kerry on what to say, but I hope he can really get inside of the culture and really understand it ‘cause it’s a deep thing, it would be a great thing if he does understand it. AllHipHop.com: Do you vote? W: Yea no doubt, you gotta vote AllHipHop.com: What are your thoughts about the whole censorship frenzy that’s surfaced since the Super Bowl? W: I mean really, you have your networks that are like the family networks, and then when you wanna watch your junk, you turn on to the junk networks. It’s real simple. If you got little kids then you want them to watch the family networks. And if it’s a family network, you gotta trust that it’s family shows. But in the case of Janet Jackson, I think it was a mistake. I don’t think she meant to do it intentionally and I also think it was blown way out of proportion. AllHipHop.com: There have been reports of the police monitoring hip-hop artists in New York, and now there are reports they’re doing the same thing in Miami. Notice anyone paying you any extra attention down here? W: Can’t no police pay me any extra attention in Miami, I’m the mayor down here (laughs). I don’t have no criminal activity goin’ on. But I don’t think the police should be following the rappers. There’s a whole lotta other people they should be following, they shouldn’t be following the rappers. AllHipHop.com: What did you think about Lauryn dissing the Catholic Church at the Vatican? W: I don’t think she dissed them at all. I think in a nutshell what she is saying is, that we all have sinned and we all should stop condemning each other and be real with each other. If someone commits a crime they should be charged and punished for it. AllHipHop.com: Have you and Pras mended things? W: Oh I don’t have any problems with Pras. That’s like a giant versus an ant. When he is ready, he will come crawling back on his knees like the little coward that he is and he will apologize. And what I will do is, squirt some holy water on his forehead and smack him in the face, and give him some Similac milk to drink. And then I will forgive him. Make sure you print it exactly like that. AllHipHop.com: You got it. So I guess that answers my next question, if there will ever be a Fugee’s reunion? It would probably be good for all of hip-hop. W: Man listen I’ll put it like this…if Pras don’t get his act together there’s gonna be a Fugee’s reunion and Pras is gonna be replaced by Tito Jackson (laughs). AllHipHop.com: Are you staying with RCA records now that J Records has been folded into the label? W: Yea yea, I’m definitely staying and merging with RCA. The next album coming out is called Silent But Deadly. The Preacher’s Son was my first record with J Records and I think will take a few albums for them to get my system, then it’s gonna be on. AllHipHop.com: Clive Davis said that it’s very special when an important artist (referring to you) tops anything he or she has done creatively and that he was thrilled to have worked with you on The Preacher’s Son. I know you’ve worked with Clive in the past but this is the first time you collaborated […]

Jacki-O isn’t insulted by the comparisons to some of her raunchy peers. In fact, the chocolate mami takes it all as a compliment. Regardless of the persistent chit chat, Jacki-O has already established herself as a formidable competitor for the vacant female rap crown. Her song “Nookie,” managed to get folks in an uproar and anticipate the next song all at the same time. The next songs, “Sugar Walls” and "Slow Down," are certain to cause another stir that will set up her debut album Poe Little Rich Girl. With super producers like Jazze Pha and Timbaland and backed by Poe Boy Records, this vixen oozes sexuality the way others breath. We talk to Jacki-O in order to assess this sensuality and determine exactly how good the “Nookie” is. AllHipHop.com: So Jackie can speak about you in general? For people who may not know who is Jacki-O? Jacki-O: Umm…I was born and raised in Miami, I been serious about my music for three years now. I’ve worked with a lot of different producers like Cool and Dre, Betty Wright. She’s not a producer she’s actually an artist, but she’s on my album, Trick Daddy is on my album. I have been out here making my music and just writing. I started my music through my poetry from writing in Junior High school. It just stuck with me from writing, producing, singing…I guess you could say I’m multi-talented. AllHipHop.com: So what does the album title "Poe Little Rich Girl" mean? J: "Poe Little Rich Girl" actually means I was born in what most people would call poverty, I’m from Liberty City, which is like a poor part of Miami. But I’m rich in spirit. We survived off of what we had and my mama always taught us to share. Our house was like an open house to anyone who was less fortunate than we were. I chose that title "Poe Little Rich Girl" because it pretty much sums up my life and me so… AllHipHop.com: Can you speak on the content of your music? There’s a lot of controversy going on especially after the first single and the name of it. J: There’s a lot of controversy over the first single, more than people actually know, which is titled "P####" which is the street version, but the radio version was titled "Nookie." That was pretty much the whole lyrical content of the song. There was a lot of controversy over the song. Some people took it for something else that I didn’t mean it to be. I wanted to do something that was fun and shocking but something that would get people’s attention, but with class. To me there was nothing wrong with the song. But I was really letting girls and guys know that it’s good to be a woman and love yourself and its precious; your body’s precious so…there was a lot of controversy over that song. My video didn’t get played but I made a lot of money off of that song, did a lot of shows so it isn’t all bad. AllHipHop.com: Looking at some of the lyrics…for example you said here "Your mama says I’m no good, but what she don’t know is I got you nookie whooped." Is it that good? You say Moms don’t like you and cops don’t give you tickets. J: Say for instance…a lot of girls are always going through something with the man’s mom. Men are moms babies. It’s hard to get into a relationship with a man when his mom is always there. As far as the police are concerned, if you’re a women you can basically talk yourself out of anything. There isn’t no way the police pull me over and I can’t get out of it by talking my way out. AllHipHop.com: Right. What’s the deal with people calling you Miami’s new rap queen? J: People in the game have called me that. People like Freeway, Jay-Z, people actually from their own words, saying I’m the new Queen of the South, seeing that I am a new comer, I just stepped out of the gate. They not only heard "Nookie" a lot of people were like "oh she can’t rap." They got it twisted when they heard "Nookie" but now they’ve heard new stuff like, "Slow Down," which is a Timbaland produced track. They’re seeing that I have skills and I’m a writer and an actress. We have the movie " Other side of the Bridge" which is with Dennis Rodman. When the album comes out they’re seeing this aint no gimmick this is real. AllHipHop.com: We heard a lot of rumors up here this so called queen of Miami caused some problems with Trina. Is this true or is this just a rumor? That something happened at a club and yall had some sort of friction or whatever. J: You know what? I know what your talking about. Your talking about when this lady from a radio station in Alabama interviewed me and she asked me the same thing. I’m like "no I hardly ever see that girl. We’re from the same city." I’m not a party animal. I don’t go out unless I have a show. I’m not a club person. I hardly ever see her and when I do see her we talk then go about our business. There is no beef. Even if there was, I’m going for mine. I know what I came to do in the industry and its not to cause trouble, beef or anything. AllHipHop.com: What’s up with you and the Poe Boy crew? I’ve heard that name a lot in this year especially when I go down to Miami. The Source seems to know yall very well. What’s the deal with the whole movement yall got going on? J: Poe Boy has been in business for like 5 years and we’ve really just been trying to be heard. We got a lot of artists and we really were […]

With firebrand flows on topics ranging from reparations to revolution, in a way, the performance persona of dead prez is similar to that of President Bush’s view of morality in the world. Everything is black and white. Up close and personal, however, M-1 and Stic.man exhibit an eye for nuance. But don’t mistake the duo for John Kerry supporters. While the wealthy New Englander campaigns atop Capital Hill, the dp’s stay grounded in the streets of Brooklyn. With a their latest set RBG: revolutionary but gangsta in stores, AllHipHop sat down with dead prez as they presented their perspectives—in shades of red, black, and green. AllHipHop.com: Last time we talked to you, which was in regards to your legal case, you mentioned you were working on your label, Boss Up (B.U.). What’s going on with that now? Stic.man: Let’s not get it twisted, it’s not a record company. Boss Up is a company that develops business in all different directions. AllHipHop.com: Is the company a direct result of your waiting and your negotiations with Columbia Records? Stic.man: Um, well, you just asked a lot of questions right there. We believe in having yourself be as independent as you can. So we just strive to do that in general. And as far as Sony, definitely after they got drunk and dropped us off the label, in order to get us back, it’s certain things we stuck ‘em for. M-1: We are in constant development of who dead prez is, you know what I’m saying? So Boss Up is a reflection of that and a result of that. We’re gonna produce many things, hopefully. Everything from DVDs to books; I already did a book. To plays, theatres, films— Stic.man: Thongs! [laughs] M-1: Events, functions. Yeah, lingerie. All that. It’s real. AllHipHop.com: What do you think about the NYPD hip-hop task force now that it’s out in the open? Stic.man: I’ll say this about it. I think we gotta start moving. If it’s a hip-hop task force, we need to have protocols on how we move for our own safety and security. M-1: I think we need a hip-hop self-defense task force. We need a counter task force for that. It’s just not enough to know what they doing, we gotta be able to be counter active with it. Because they try to make it seem like [mocking in a feminine voice]“It’s always innocent, because, you know, we don’t want another 2Pac and Biggie.” Well that’s a g###### lie. And don’t throw that in my face and try to make it seem like some innocent bystander s**t. Hell nah. AllHipHop.com: What are your thoughts on the protests in Brooklyn about bringing the Nets and the new arena into the area? Supposedly, it would displace a lot of people and then replace the homes with expensive housing, and small businesses would have to move, too. M-1: I’m right there. I have a store right there where they want to put it at. I really need to know the demographics of that argument. Because right there in downtown Brooklyn, gentrification has been done. It used to be Fort Greene, now it’s called Clinton Hills, according to the white folks. And they probably got some other fancy name, too. “Little France,” or something, you know what I’m saying. Basically what we need to do is have community decide what commerce comes to the ‘hood. I’m not saying n##### is mad at the stadium, but it ain’t gonna come to the ‘hood. They gonna drive the crackers from Manhattan into that stadium and back out. AllHipHop.com: For me, it’s fairly new to see you two in the whole Wendy Williams/ rumor mill. How do you feel when you hear dead prez is signing to the Roc? Or dead prez is signing to Bad Boy? Or Wendy Williams talking about you and Erykah Badu? M-1: People will talk. The media is a muthaf*cka. Stic.man: B*tches like to run they f***in’ mouth! [everybody laughs] AllHipHop.com: But with the message you put forward, what’s it like being attached to Jay-Z or Puff? People think of bling when they think of them, but not when they think of you. Stic.man: I don’t care. I don’t give a f*ck about that. I don’t separate myself from nobody off image. And I don’t unite with nobody just off a contract, you know what I’m saying? It’s way deeper than that. But I think it’s important for the game that people like Jay-Z and dp’s can work together (listen to their collaboration "Hell Yeah (Remix)." Way more than if we beefin’. And I know it’s a lot of sh*t I can learn from Jay-Z: how he on top of his business, his skill as an artist, his humility even with his success. You might can’t tell that from his lyrics, but as a man, he’s a pretty humble dude. That’s an O.G. in certain ways. And Puffy, too. They O.G.’s in this rap s**t, and I want to become an O.G. M-1: [It’s not just] how we get affected by them, ‘cause they get affected by us, [too]. AllHipHop.com: What if you heard a fan say “They doing a song with Jay, that’s not what they about?” Or if they said, “They rep Brooklyn and Jay’s moving the Nets to Brooklyn and it’s going to make a lot of people move?” Stic.man: I’ll be like, How the hell you gonna tell me what dp’s is? F**k outta here. [laughs] We gonna do this, how we gonna do this. And a lot of people be Internet head muthaf*ckas just making up s**t. It ain’t from knowing us. AllHipHop.com: You mentioned the Internet, and I wanted to ask you about Internet protests. Activism is being active, so isn’t sitting behind your computer being passive? M-1: I gotta disagree with you. The reason why I say that is because it depends what it’s for and it depends on the resulting action. Truthfully, what it really boils down […]

AllHipHop.com: What’s up with you and Rhyme Night? X: The rhyme night is something that we doing out here to give some light to the artist out here that really don’t get any. The underground scene gets pushed around to that certain extent to clubs. I don’t really go out but for the simple fact that there’s no unity out here. When I say unity, for instance, like that club that I used as a platform to come out and broadcast. This is the club that used to bring out crews from the East coast and then bring them out to the West and let them shine when nobody was bringing Wu-Tang out here and nobody was bringing the underground cats to let them see the West coast underground. It’s kind of like we got to keep fueling that. I throw some thing called Rhyme Night and once a month cats come through and pack the house. We let them do like one or two songs and we got a main act that comes out and smashes it. Whether it be a n*gga that’s from in town or we bring somebody from out of town. The next one we gonna do we just gonna blow it out and keep it going. We just gonna make it bigger and bigger and bigger. AllHipHop.com: A lot of people want to know what was the situation with the incident with Mexicans with you getting cut? X: I and I am gonna say it one time and everybody hear it. It was some coward sh*t. It was two motherf*ckers and nothing got punched , nothing got kicked, nobody got hit, nothing . A motherf*cker threw a bottle at my face and that was it. They were three feet away from me and threw a bottle. A n*gga aint gonna go out like that. All I’m saying is I’m glad I aint have my pistol in my pocket. That’s all I got to say. AllHipHop.com: Last time I talked to you, your relationship was some what strange with Snoop. Do you still have a mutual relationship with him anymore? X: It is what it is. I aint got nothing negative to say about Snoop Dogg. That brother dealing with his own trials and tribulations. A n*gga like me is trying to push this West coast sh*t and keep Xzibit cracking. AllHipHop.com: There’s a lot of West coast dudes claiming the new west . Why do people feel the need to say that in that way? X: I put it like this. If you happy with the way the West coast has been perceived and heard right now, then something is wrong. That aint where it’s at. We got so much sh*t out here and it feels like the rest of the world is bent on only supporting one side of this sh*t. It’s stereotyped out to the fact that if you don’t come a certain way or your not associated with a certain name then motherf*ckers aint gonna listen to you or they think that if its not behind a f*ck track or we aint talking like ( funny noises) then n*ggas don’t feel like its West coast, which is bullsh*t. We got a lot to say and a lot to be heard and I don’t mind being an underdog. Being an underdog or being underestimated has been some of the best things that have happened to me in my career because just when you think I aint I swing and knock that motherf*cker off the fence and take motherf*cker off guard and sh*t. I always come out looking victorious because just when you think I can’t, I can playboy. AllHipHop.com: Is it getting too real? I saw yall with some heavy gunplay in the video too. I know it was all in the shooting range type of situation, but is it getting too serious out there? X: It’s always been serious out here. That’s why that all star sh*t, that sh*t aint go down out here. Them motherf*ckers wasn’t playing out here. N*ggas came out here (for All-Star) with all they jewels and all that sh*t and got laid down player. Don’t even think about it. N*ggas aint have no videos cracking, n*ggas aint have no super rap crews rolling through here. N*ggas out here is hungry. AllHipHop.com: All that sh*t about cats getting robbed is true? Yea , Don’t let motherf*ckers come home with all that sh*t . That sh*t went down playboy. AllHipHop.com: Cats came here (NY) and came home and was like that sh*t didn’t happen. X: Yea, Ok. Don’t let n*ggas start taking pictures with their jewels and sh*t and start putting them up on the Internet. N*gga you don’t want that. Just go on and take that L and keep it moving. It aint nothing to laugh about because I would hate for n*ggas to try that sh*t anywhere else. Its just bad business all away around. All I’m saying with that is that its motherf*cker out here too that need to be heard and need to be exonerated just like everybody else and that just comes with putting out good music. F*ck all the bullsh*t aside, We gotta come out with the good music and just really rock the world like we did before because it seem like it starts here. Everything moves in different cycles and if you look at the music at how its changed and evolved , It was kind of like everybody was trying to be from the West at one point. Then it moved to the South , now everybody tying to rep from the South. It moves in cycles. Everybody wanted to be Jay-Z at one time. I think its just time to turn it on. AllHipHop.com: Will Strong Arm Steady come out under your imprint Open Bar? Is that through Columbia? X: Yea , We gonna work it out like that. It’s gotta come in order for it to make sense. […]

Since his last album Man Vs. Machine, blue collar lyricist Xzibit has laid relatively low. There were persistent rumors that he would never rap again after he was allegedly slashed with a broken bottle.There was the constant chatter ranging from Defari to Suge Knight. Suddenly, Xzibit’s grind has resurfaced partially with the visibility of a hit new show on MTV, "Pimp My Ride." But under the surface, he’s been doing some of the best Hip-Hop available in the wild, wild West with The Strongarm Steady gang – Krondon, Mitchy Slick and Phil Da Agony. In this part 1 of four series with S.A.S., we talked to X about his new hustle, the rumors and the bright future. AllHipHop.com: First of all, can you talk about this show with MTV, Pimp My Ride? It’s one of their highest rated shows. X: We taking $500-$900 dollar cars and putting like $20,000 worth of sh*t in it. Then we give it back to the kid and its like Christmas on a cupcake for these motherf*ckers. AllHipHop.com: : How did you get this show in the first place? X: We pitched the idea and MTV picked it up , bought 10 episodes from first season just like that. N*ggas is really not waiting around. We are being proactive in our careers and its just time. Anything and everything is possible that we can do to make this sh*t better that’s what we do. It aint like n*ggas work in 7-11 or Mcdonald’s and got to do something else at the end of the day. This it it , you put your nose to the grind stone and keep it going. AllHipHop.com: : So What’s going on with Strong Arm Steady? X: Okay well the "Strong Arm" DVD is kind of late, like you know we are in the age of multimedia so we are introducing the fellas through a DVD and along with the mixtape circuit and along with guest appearances. We showing a personality to these guys before they even get a chance to get pushed in that light. We’re taking a real grassroots effect with the product. Mixtapes and everything we are putting out along with the mainstream aspects that I could bring to the table being the artist that I have become. You know what I am saying? So I believe in these and whatever avenues that are available to me, I make sure are available to them. The DVD was just a step in that direction just to showcase who everybody in the Strong Arm is, why we got together and what we plan to do together. AllHipHop.com: : How did you get hooked up with those guys? X: I’ve known these guys for ever, and when it came to doing the group, it was like they pushed me with it. They was already doing the mixtape thing and then they approached me with it and was like you know we got to do this. We got to do this. And I was like okay. Take yall n*ggas up out of here, cause I don’t have a problem validating hard work. If you gonna get off your ass and move, and not expect that the world is going to be handed to you, I’m all for that. More power to you and that’s exactly what it is. AllHipHop.com: : You have been a part of all the mixtape CD’s? X: I mean I hit them off with exclusives, I hit them off with Golden State that we were going to use, and of course I did freestyles with them and my main focus is not on bigger things, but the more important things that have to do with the movement, you know what I’m saying? It’s not just about making mixtapes, it’s hitting those meetings, it’s making those records, making sure that everything is organized, before we make this big push for the West to get it. You know, making sure that all of our ducks are in a row on the business side and on the music side so we can keep going with it. AllHipHop.com: : How is it different for some of your other affiliations, like say Liquid or maybe after Dre’s camp or whatever? How is this organization different than those others? X: Well I mean working with Dr. Dre, working with the whole Aftermath/Interscope camp, I mean I’m not an Interscope artist, you know what I’m saying. So I mean there is only so much I can do in that area. You know what I’m saying? The affiliation with Dr. Dre and all that stuff, that’s never gonna change, that’s my dog, that’s my homie, you know what I’m saying? We are still going to make records together, but still that’s not the only part of the West coast that needs to flourish. It’s good and fine and respectable, you know what I’m saying? But there’s producers and MC’s out here that need that shine, that need that light also and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do. By no means have I finished with working with Dre, that’s sh*t. If it aint broke, don’t you know what I’m saying? But with these guys, I believe in them also and it’s only right that if I can bring right to a situation just by being involved , that’s what I’ma do. AllHipHop.com: : Does this take you back to your earlier years of when you were on the grind real heavy? X: You better believe it man. You gotta be hungry, you gotta stay hungry, and you gotta stay wanted, and you gotta have the desire to do it and really believe it. If you don’t believe it, you’re not going to be able to achieve it. My n*ggas is here everyday waking up to this Strong Arm Steady sh*t. I have nothing but respect for that so when I get up and get involved in it, I don’t feel like I’m the only one […]

“Big and Pac left…now Jay’s leaving is the reason I’m next” – Cory Gunz. The way blocks are buzzing about him similar to the early buzz on 50 Cent’s second stab at the rap game.  Call it a slow grind…The Drama King DJ Kay Slay in a recent interview projected that Cory Gunz would be the next boy wonder to pop.  All jokes aside, don’t get caught street sleepin’. It’s surprising that the young Cory from the Bronx got the guns to shoot, but when people realize his lineage, it ain’t hard to tell. The entrance is clear for the seed of Peter Gunz, a strong veteran reputable in the rap arena.  However, don’t expect Cory to coat-tail off his pop’s credit.  Recently signed to Casablanca/Universal, when this kid drops, lyrical battle bullets are gonna fly.  Young as far numbers, Cory Gunz aims to b the new definition of a minor walking confidently on rap’s rough terrain. Allhiphop.com: Cory Gunz, before we can even get into the interview you gotta tell me about your history, just so people understand who Cory Gunz really is. Cory Gunz:  I don’t know where to start. Allhiphop.com: Let’s tackle the rap arena. Cory Gunz:  Okay, I got in through my father (Peter Gunz)…listening to him.  He did music and I was around it from when I was real young.  I used to go to the studio when he had his group, and I would just listen to him all the time.  He just kind of rubbed off.  I’ve been rapping since I was 14. Allhiphop.com: You’ve been rapping since you were 14. How old are you now? Cory Gunz: Sixteen! Allhiphop.com: So wait a second, the style that you are bringing now, you’ve only been doing it for two years? Cory Gunz: Yeah. Allhiphop.com: You’ve got to be kidding me. Wait a second, so two years and you’ve already somewhat defined yourself.  What do you consider your style to be like?  Is it street edgy, or is it more geared toward that female pop rap? Cory Gunz: Everything!  I try to do everything.  I can’t define my style.  I listen to different music so if I listen to a Hov record, or an Eminem record, or anybody else, I would try to write in a style that nobody could really judge me on, based on me sounding like anybody else, so that’s it.  I don’t really have a style basically.   Allhiphop.com: So do you feel that some of your father’s lyrical traits were passed down to you?  Did your father sit in the studio and say “Cory do this,” “this is where you should go, this is what you should sound like?” Or did you kind of go back to the lab and say, “alright based on what Hov said, based on some structure from Eminem, this is what I’m putting together?” Cory Gunz: Sort of like that.  But my father was working with a group at one time and I was trying to write rhymes for him, but he wouldn’t listen to me.  He wouldn’t pay attention to me.  So after a while I just kind of got aggravated and kept to myself, and I started writing, free styling on my block, and everybody kept telling him how nice I was.  He finally heard me for the first time and started working with me. Allhiphop.com: He took you serious.  Now I know you’re trying to get into the game heavy.  How much have you smashed the mix-tape game?  Or are you starting to just get in now? Cory Gunz: Sort of just like that. I’m just starting to get a buzz right now.  Put out my own mix-tape really (The Apprentice I and II). But I’ve been on like two or three really.  I did a lot of free-styling, so I’m ready to just start handing them out to different mix-tape DJ’s. Allhiphop.com: Do you think the rap world is ready for you?  Do you think that you have enough, I mean two years and you sound like that…But in your heart, do you feel that you have enough experience, or the lyrical pitch to go against some of the best of them? Cory Gunz: There’s a lot to learn, but I’m ready for whatever comes my way. Whatever happens…happens! Allhiphop.com: Whatever happens…happens! So that’s a good outlook.  Now how difficult do you find getting into the arena, as far as getting your name out there to really bubble?  Basically to the point where people really take you serious, like alright this isn’t just Peter Gunz son. He’s nice so we are not going to really base his character off his father. Cory Gunz: That’s why my father doesn’t really stay involved with what I do, so people don’t start pointing fingers thinking he writes for me, or he has anything to do with me. But there are a lot of people trying to be in the position I’m in, as far as getting heard, getting their name out there.  But it’s gonna be hard.  I’m ready to put in whatever work is needed.  

In Part I of our interview with David Banner, he discussed some of the ways the music industry affects his vision of success. His commitment to education and community values is sometimes lost in translation to those who don’t understand, but it does not stop David from keeping his heart in the right place. In Part 2 we dig a little deeper into politics, life philosophy, and family love. AllHipHop.com: You’ve stated that you were very influenced by soul music and gospel growing up. Have you been accused of having a conflict of interest between your spirituality and some of your lyrical content? David Banner: People always talk sh*t because they don’t have nothing else to talk about. Life is a contradiction within itself. Most of the people in church Sunday morning still reek of alcohol – just left the club two hours ago, just enough time to come home, take a bath, close their eyes for an hour, wash their ass and get up and go to church. I’m just one of the few people that’s willing to stand up and say ‘hey, I’m going to be just as quick to talk about God as I do anything else in my life’. One thing about evil, is evil uses any tactic that it can to win people over. If you look at what we believe beauty is, evil is going to come as something that attracts you. It’s funny because American media leads you to believe that evil is something that looks as close to even Black people, or something that they judge as being unattractive, when in actuality evil is going to come as the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen. If it’s not beautiful it won’t attract you to do whatever it needs you to do. That’s where lust comes in – lust for things you’re attracted to. Understanding that, I know that in order to teach you have to present yourself as one who has been through it – which I have. I just take all the negative stuff that I’ve been through, all the things that I’ve seen and use it in a positive manner, because if evil does whatever it takes, why can’t positive people do the same thing? You have to use new age tactics to let people know who you’re talking to. AllHipHop.com: In an interview with Murder Dog you discussed how the book The 48 Laws Of Power [by Robert Greene] was one of your favorites, and that one of the laws was making yourself appear less intelligent than you are. How do you apply that day to day, and has it done anything good for you? David Banner: I don’t really have to apply it. People think I’m young and Black with baggy pants that I don’t have intelligence in the first place, so I really don’t have to apply it – it applies itself. I don’t have to go out of my way to prove to people that I’m intelligent. I handle my business, and you’re honestly able to see how people feel about you. It’s funny because someone asked one time ‘well if he’s so smart, why does he rap about this, why does he do that?’ God gives you the intelligence where if you know this is what works, you use it. The thing is, people talk all the sh*t that they want to, but when I did ‘Cadillac On 22’s’, did people accept that? No. People want you to be broke, and they want to control you. [Note: Here we break into a side conversation about his production of Trick Daddy’s “Thug Holiday”, and his work with UGK and their history, and how has included them on all of his projects. We reflect on how good it would be for UGK and other underground artists in the South to truly get credit for the dues they’ve paid. We then come back to his current project] David Banner: What’s funny though, is as long as the streets love this record, I’m cool. People can talk all the sh*t they want to, as long as when I walk out there, the people are happy. To be real with you, I’ve heard trash ass music that makes it. ‘Crank It Up’ may be different that what people expect from me so they push it away cuz it’s not a ‘Like A Pimp’, but think about ‘Like A Pimp’ – it was a street South record that went pop. I look at people like George Clinton, I look at people like Andre 3000 – that’s where you gotta go. You gotta take music somewhere or it won’t be a talent. If anybody can do it you won’t make it. That’s why I love a person like Twista so much, because you can’t do what he do – it ain’t easy. If we allow our music to be so watered down and so easily comprehended, then it won’t be a talent. AllHipHop.com: How supportive was your family about your career choices? David Banner: I was rapping since I was twelve years old. My mother supported me. Now imagine your son at twelve years old in Mississippi, when they’re not even playing rap on the radio – ‘I wanna be rapper’ – walking around wearing three-stripe Adidas. AllHipHop.com: How old are you now? David Banner: Old enough to make somebody smile and young enough to keep it there. [long pause] I’m a grown ass, grown ass man. The thing I always try to explain to people is that my mother said ‘I’ve always supported you in your musical ventures’ – even when I was in the streets tough, my mother was never the type of woman to tell me not to do something. I was such a bad ass that would push me to do it even more. My mother just asked me in all the things that I do to think about it. I remember one time when… I can’t necessarily […]