Ms. Voletta Wallace is a martyr to the casualties of hip-hop. No mother raises a child to be slain over greed, pride, and envy. Ms. Wallace has endured that cruelest of fates, and still is willing to share. Almost six years to the day after he son was gunned down on the lawless streets of Los Angeles, Ms. Wallace speaks. Her tone is a blend of joy and agony. With a soft-spoken nature, one can hear reflections of our favorite rapper in his mother: She has the same confidence, the blunt approach, and commands the same respect. In celebration of her son’s life and success, Ms. Wallace and the Christopher Wallace Foundation are planning the BIG Night Out event in Atlanta this week. After the storm, comes the calm. While we reminisce over a wide spectrum of topics and events concerning Big, you can’t help but sense of what’s missing. AllHipHop.com: What are doing with your time these days? Voletta Wallace: Well, these [days], I spend with my grandkids. I take care of the Christopher Wallace estate. I take care of the Christopher Wallace Foundation. I do a lot of gardening. I’m working on a couple of children’s’ books, and I’m working on my own book. So I’m extremely busy. AHH: You were a teacher, have you always wanted to do children’s books? VW: I started writing I would say about seven years ago. I never took it seriously. But after Christopher died, I decided that I since I had nothing more to do than weep, and over the years I’ve read a few Caldecott Awards, I would say to myself, “I can do it too.” I focused kids books around happiness, around love, around friendship. I just started writing. Last year I contacted a few publishers and so far someone is looking at my book and they said it’s very very good. AHH: As a mother, what moment in your son’s life made you the proudest? VW: The moment that made me the proudest was when his album sold half a million copies. And I saw the smile in his face, and I [knew] it was something that he loved, something that he worked hard at, something that he had accomplished without my help. And that made me the proudest. AHH: In sports, they used to say there was a trend. Great fathers produced great athletes. I think hip-hop is maternal. Every well-respected hip-hop artist seems to have an immensely strong relationship with his mother. As one of the driving images to that philosophy, how do you feel on this idea to the role of the modern poet? VW: Well as far as my son is concerned, I taught my son to love, to care, respect, to put his heart into whatever he did and do it with great honesty. And as a mother, that’s how I feel. I don’t know if it’s a contribution to him, or if it’s a contribution to me, but every word from that pen that my son put down, I am proud of his work. I don’t care if he defamed women, defamed an idea or a culture, you know, the fact that half a million people bought his album made me proud. That makes me very very proud. AHH: Let’s talk about the Christopher Wallace foundation? From what I’ve read, it’s a great charity with reachable, and very impacting goals. How do you incorporate your son’s vision into the giving? VW: Well, he was a giver. He gave his art, he gave of his time. And that’s what the foundation is all about. They’re thinking big! The acronym for BIG is ‘Books Instead of Guns’. Because my son shared a love for life in his heart, I would like to share something with all youths of tomorrow. To give some love, to share a book. Yes, reading is art. Knowledge is a form of art. If I can get one book into a child’s hands, to me, the foundation has accomplished what I wanted to accomplish: sharing. And it’s sharing and it’s love and it’s art. AHH: There’s a lot of giving in Atlanta too, and I know you have the BIG night out this weekend. Why did you take the event outside of New York? VW: Well out of New York City, all over the country. This year we’re not focusing on education, we’re focusing on these mothers. Their children [are gone], they lost a lot! In height of all that, these mothers were never acknowledged, not of all of them, nobody acknowledged their loss. They have given a lot to the hip-hop community. They have given a lot to the world. They have given their sons and their daughters. And their daughters and their sons aren’t here. It’s a foundation made of appreciating them for their children and for what their children have contributed to society and the world. AHH: Our site has a lot of dedicated readers and activists. Where can supporters go to make a contribution to the foundation? VW: If you wish to make a contribution to the foundation, all you have to do is make it to the: Christopher Wallace Foundation PO Box 834 Brooklyn, NY 11238 AHH: As an MC, my mom used to find my poetry….and I’d be furious. How did Big approach his lyrics with you? VW: (Laughing) Well, I’ve read a couple of his things and I listened to certain things, certain halfway rhymes, and I know the bleep bleeps were profanity. When I asked him about it, he said, “Mom, you know you’re not supposed to be listening to that. My music is not for anyone over thirty five.” So, I tried to stay away from it. AHH: Was there a specific song or lyric that BIG really reflected a lot of you in him, or you could hear your own voice in the track? VW: It might be everything. So far, I don’t know all of my son’s songs. But […]

Last year New Jersey-based rapper Vita anticipated that her long-awaited album, La Vita Dolce ("The Good Life"), would drop under the Murder Inc. banner. Her hopes would never come to fruition. Instead the original female on Murder Inc. would walk away after being signed to the label for over two years. Now, the former Murder Inc. artist says she is currently recording her next project, which she expects will see the light of day. The rapper stresses she is working with an assortment of producers including Damizza, Lil’ Rizzy, Dame Grease , Lil’ Rizzy (aka Lil’ Rob), Grease and others. Jumping straight to “big records,” Vita boasts she recently recorded a song with R&B-turned-punk rocker Pink called “Finally Goodbye.” “I’ve been stagnated for a long time now and I’ve been fighting a war that’s not mine,” Vita says to AllHipHop.com. “I just want everybody to know that I’m still here and I’m not going nowhere.” Irv Gotti admitted on record that he never wanted to lose the first lady of Murder Inc, but says his upstart grew impatient as the labels roster blossomed. Previously, Gotti said Vita “spazzed out” with the addition of Charli Baltimore and wanted more creative control, something he was unwilling to relinquish. Still contractually bound to Murder Inc., Vita speaks on her situation and the direction she wants her still-promising career to go. AllHipHop.com: What do you mean when you say a "war that’s not yours?" Vita: I said I’ve been fighting a war that’s not my war. I’m in the middle of a situation that really doesn’t have anything to do with me, but I’m being affected by it. AllHipHop.com: You can’t speak more specific? Vita: No AllHipHop.com: Is that what led you to leave? Did you leave? Some people said you were dropped. Vita: No I wasn’t dropped, all the world needs to know is that I’ve been stagnated. Vita was not dropped from the label, I just been stagnated to the point where I just basically threw myself back in the studio. I’m just basically in the middle of a situation that really has nothing to do with me. AllHipHop.com: But you can’t say what that is? Vita: No, not yet AllHipHop.com: I heard you on a Kay Slay tape today. Vita: We did that record like 2 years ago and they just releasing it. AllHipHop.com: Who did you do that with? Vita: Me, Lil’ Mo, Ja and Envy. I have some hot records like the joint that Pink just did with me called “Finally Goodbye.” It’s crazy, it’s hot. AllHipHop.com: How did you hook up with Damizza? He’s from the West Coast right? Vita: I’ve had a relationship with him for a while now. We actually did about 4 songs together. He’s a real person that’s been showing me love outside of the B.S. that’s been going on. I got Lil’ Rizzy a.k.a. Lil’ Rob. He did “Hot Spot” for Foxy. He used to be signed to Irv’s production company Top Dog. Grease; Vacant Lot, Jay 5; Vacant Lot, Steve Rizzum; he produced Pink’s first album. I just have a lot of different people showing me love and I’m just in the studio working and doing joints, building up. AllHipHop.com: Have you secured a deal yet? Vita: There are several deals on the table but I can’t make any moves because of things that’s going on right now. AllHipHop.com: Are you still kind of hemmed up in a contract situation? Vita: I wont say that, it’s just a lot of things going on where people can’t get certain information that they need. AllHipHop.com: Is Hype your manager? Vita: No AllHipHop.com: But he’s the one that introduced you to Murder Inc.? Vita: Yeah, I’m signed to Hype’s production company. AllHipHop.com: Was it an issue between him and Irv? Irv made it sound like it was Hype was the one that got upset with your project being pushed back. Would you say that was accurate? Vita: Their both businessmen and I can say that of course it’s accurate. He’s going to feel the way he feels, that’s why I told you I’ve been stagnated for awhile and I’m fighting a war that’s not my war. AllHipHop.com: So you feel like your stuck between those two guys? Vita: I just feel like I’m fighting a war that’s not my war. AllHipHop.com: Was it your decision to actually leave or were you guided that way? Vita: Put it like this, I’m grown and I can speak for myself. That’s all I need to say. If there was anything said in reference to Vita wanting to leave it never came out my mouth. I’m grown and now I have to go full speed ahead on making a decision that’s best for me. AllHipHop.com: Was it scary to do that ‘cause Murder Inc. is one of the top labels in Hip Hop and R&B, tied to really big company like Def Jam. A lot people would be kind of scared to make that decision Vita: It’s still all love, but this is a business. It’s nothing personal. AllHipHop.com: I know Charlie Baltimore made it clear that y’all didn’t have any beef. In fact they were really hesitant about saying that you actually left, at least Ja and Charlie were. Are you still on good speaking terms with them? Vita: I’m still on good terms with everybody and it’s all love. AllHipHop.com: I don’t think they want you to leave ‘cause they used to keep talking like you were still with them. They were still saying you were on Murder Inc. Do you think that’s the case; that they still want you there? Vita: That’s what I’m hearing. In any situation actions speak louder than words. AllHipHop.com: Did you have an album finished? Vita: Yeah, just about. The Pink and Lil’ Rob records have been done way after the situation. I put myself back in the studio so I can continue to work and be an artist. I’m fighting […]

Much like Van Gogh, a 19th century artist who never attained any real commercial success until after his death, Priority Records recording artist Ras Kass is struggling with similar obstacles to those of the famed painter. The fact that Ras Kass’ never-released third album was entitled Van Gogh, speaks volumes about the frustration felt by arguably the greatest lyricist to ever emerge from the left coast. After enduring a four-and-a-half year period without releasing any new material, although having recorded two new albums (Van Gogh and Goldyn Chyld), Ras Kass has had enough of the same "bitter disappointments" that plagued the real Van Gogh. However, unlike Van Gogh, who would eventually commit suicide, overwhelmed by the obstacles in his life; Ras Kass has become determined to not let anyone or anything stand in his way of achieving success with his art. Ras Kass believes that his only hope to salvage his art, his career, and his freedom is to demand that he be released from his recording contract with Priority Records. Unfortunately for Ras Kass his determination is being once again met by adversity. Ras Kass was recently convicted of a third DUI and was supposed to begin serving a nine-month prison sentence. So now to ensure his release from Priority Records, Ras must remain a free man and a fugitive. AllHipHop.com: Let’s just get right to it. What’s the deal, you’re on the lamb; what’s goin’ on? Rass Kass: Really the whole thing is that I been wasting my time with Priority Records. You gotta keep this in mind, I’m a rapper, I can’t go work at Sears. So what am I doin’, I’m out here hustlin’ to make sure I can bring home the ends meet for my children. And I signed a contract with people who are supposed to allow me to use my craft to make everybody in turn money. When they decided, basically because they couldn’t use the Dr. Dre song I got to be the single. Then, they knew actually I had to go to jail five months beforehand. Everything’s all good, we had a set plan of what we were gonna do. Soon as they decided that they weren’t gonna put out my record, and it’s already been a four-year fight (with) me tryin’ to convince some f*ckin’ stupid a** corporate people that my music is worth puttin’ out; if I didn’t have Eminem on it, or I didn’t have Jay-Z, then it’s not as good of a song. So when they decided that, basically implying that I go another year or more; I took my album, I went up there, I took my f*ckin’ hard drive and I left. I’m not turnin’ myself in when I’m out here, I gotta eat, I been havin’ to eat and they ain’t fulfilled their side of the bargain. So the jail sh*t, that’s gettin’ sensationalized. I think Priority got mad. If they want the album back, I’m willing to give ’em the album back, if they give me a release, and that’s all this is about. And I’ll turn myself in. I’m not goin’ to jail and my children been havin’ to suffer all this time while I been workin’ hard, really f*ckin’ workin’ hard. And then I’m gonna get slapped in the f*ckin’ face, like the month before I’m about to turn myself in, they decide because Dre doesn’t want his song to be the first single. He didn’t have any objections with it being a single. I had a song that was supposed to be the single, they didn’t even work that record. The title song that (DJ) Premier did for me, "Goldyn Chyld." Well these people have never shown me any f*ckin’ form of respect, and then you think I’m a let you keep an album and you ain’t puttin’ it out anyway. So f*ck you. You sayin’ f*ck me, f*ck you, I’ll take my sh*t, and you ain’t paid half these producers, and Priority Records also f*cked off a million dollar deal for a year before a court case with me and Xzibit at Columbia for the Golden State (Project). These people are sayin’ f*ck my kids and f*ck how we gon’ live and eat, and I’m not playin’ that f*ckin’ game. This is just how I feel. I’m not goin’ to jail, then catch me if you can, just like that movie. I’m Leo Decapribro. (laughs) Catch me if you can, and I’m not runnin’, I’ma sell albums, I’m still doin’ me. I don’t really appreciate n***as blowin’ up the spot, but I’m not livin’ in New York, if you do catch me, you’ll catch me in Cali. AllHipHop.com: So are you basically just lookin’ for independent distribution right now then? RK: I’m not really lookin’ for anything, I’m lookin’ to be released from the f*ckin’ plantation. AllHipHop.com: Are you concerned that the fact that now you have taken off, this is gonna jeopardize the whole criminal situation? RK: I already knew what my situation would be before I did it. I’m not a stupid cat. I weighed the pros with the cons, and I had to explain to certain people in my life what I was willing to do and what I wasn’t willing to do. They had a year to negotiate a deal, a million dollar deal which benefits their artist in the long-term, puttin’ out the Golden State (Project) record, which probably with Dr. Dre doin’ at least two (tracks), might get an Eminem on it. You don’t have to spend anything to make some money and put your artist in a position where at least now he’s a gold artist or a platinum artist. And they were too stupid to even do that. They f*cked off the deal. Xzibit got breached, they lost our deal, not because of me, but I feel responsible because Priority Records is ridiculous. They’re ridiculous, like really f*ckin’ like a plantation over there. And I looked at my pros and cons; […]

New Orleans is quite possibly Hip-Hop’s best-kept secret and Choppa is set to become the Dirty South’s brightest star. At the tender age of 21, No Limit’s newest protégé is on the verge of taking the N.O. to even bigger heights. With his booming voice, unrelenting personality, and aggressive bounce style of music, Choppa is taking his style to places no one ever thought it would go. He brings the heat with his debut album, properly titled "Straight From The N.O.," and has got the hometown crowd buzzing and wanting more. Since releasing his first single, "Choppa Style," Hip-Hop fans have begun to appreciate the appeal and free spirit that club music offers a little more. Not one to just think on a local level, Choppa is determined to carry his brand of bounce nationwide. Read as he gives Allhiphop.com an account of his life, his newfound fame, and how himself, Master P., and the New No Limit soldiers plan to raise the bar in Southern Hip-Hop once and for all. Allhiphop.com: We have a lot to cover, but let’s get into the album a bit. Let the fans know when it’s coming out…the album is highly anticipated. Choppa: Well, my album is called "Straight From The N.O." It comes out March 4th, you know? AHH: Who can fans look forward to hearing from on the album other than you? Choppa: Man, I got my dog B.G., then I got mostly No Limit after that…you know, P, 5th Ward Weebie, Currency, The Hospital, you know? AHH: The whole roster at No Limit has changed a lot over the years. Choppa: Yeah, it has. You know how No Limit gets down…every magazine, you got No Limit "coming soon, coming soon," you know. AHH: Have you been directly affected by any of the new changes that have occurred at No Limit, or do you use them to work to your advantage? Choppa: It’s all good for me because I’m the leader of it right now. AHH: Who is responsible for taking over the production on the album? Choppa: Well, my album was finished before I signed to No Limit. I added a couple more tracks to give it that "No Limit feel." But mostly, it was me. AHH: How did the situation with No Limit come to be? It sounds like you were making power moves long before the record deal. Choppa: Me being in New Orleans, I had the song "Choppa Style" for like two years, you know what I’m saying? And it’s been hot down there, but it took awhile, you know? I made myself so hot to where P had no other choice but to be like, "man, I got to come down there and holla at this lil’ dude," you know? It was all good, man. AHH: Who is your main inspiration for doing all of this, man? Choppa: My parents. AHH: That’s unusual because most parents are against their children listening to Hip-Hop music. Choppa: The things they used to tell me made me want to do it more. They used to say "if I knew my homework like I knew that rap, I’d be making straight A’s." Things like that, I remember, you know what I’m saying? I’d be like, "OK, I’m going to show y’all!" (laughs) AHH: How has having a hit song and a new record deal improved your life to this point? Are you able to better provide a new existence for you and yours, or are you looking in that direction later down the line? Choppa: Later on down the line because I ain’t really focusing on it right now. But, later on in life, I be done got my own record label and everything. I’m really just focusing on putting this first album out and seeing how it does, you know? AHH: What kind of response have you gotten from the hometown crowd thus far? Choppa: Ah man, they love me down there. I’m the king of my city, man. AHH: When the fans see you, they all just flock your way, huh? Choppa: It’s cool, you know what I’m saying? It’s a mutual respect thing. Everybody respects what I’m doing. They saw how I was grinding and hustling out there. AHH: For instance, if you go to a mall to cop you a nice throwback or something… Choppa: I gets locked! AHH: They just lock you down in there? Choppa: Yep. AHH: Is that sort of attention something that you can live without, or is it something that you embrace? Many rappers basically have no privacy because they have achieved a larger than life following. Choppa: It’s something that I embrace. I love the attention…that’s what I’m in it for, you know? AHH: Were you a radio personality at some point, or just someone that did a lot of work on the radio? Choppa: I used to be on with Wild Wayne (Q93). He’s like a big brother to me, you know what I’m saying? We used to have this thing on the radio called "Nine O’clock Props," and I used to be on there rapping. I would call at 9:00 and showcase my talent. That was something for the locals to do. Anybody who had the skills to pay the bills, at 9:00 every night, you could call the radio station. This was back in ’95 when I used to do that. I was in middle school back then, man. AHH: Talk about Master P. for a minute, man. Is he fair in his business practices, and how is he as a person to work with? Choppa: He’s a businessman, you know what I’m saying? He believed in me, so he gave me my shot. He came down there and recruited me, told me everything he wanted to do with me, with the movies and things, and everything’s he’s been telling me has been coming true. So, I thank him for believing in me and putting me out here […]

25 year old Supastition got the rap bug at the tender age of 9, when he first heard Dougie Fresh’s "The Show." After stints on such labels as Lo Key Records (owned by Kurtis Blow) and Mends Recordings, Supa has shared microphone duties with such rap acts as Pumpkinhead, Bad Seed, Jean Grae, Yaggfu Front, Apathy, and Danja Mowf. Now signed to indie label, Freshchest, Supastition hopes to break from the underground and make a dent on the national scene.The rapper is preparing to release his album, 7 Years of Bad Luck which will chronicle his trials and tribulations as an MC. AllHipHop.com: What’s up with your album 7 Years of Bad Luck? SUPA: It’s doing good. It could be doing a lot better. The label kind of stuck the album out there with out doing a 12” first. By the time DJ’s got the 12” they were like when is the album dropping and I tell them the album has been out since August. We will probably do a second single soon along with some remixes. AHH: What do you think about Underground artist getting commercial airplay? I know at this point it is nonexistent almost. But do you think its possible? SUPA: Actually I support that cause a lot of commercial radio stations here play my music in there mixshows and its like a lot of college radio shows don’t really support this type of underground music that I make. The play the more abstract than anything. So now it’s like commercial radio is our only outlet. It’s like we are being pushed out of the underground. AHH: Yeah, the abstract is definitely dominating college radio. Supa: There is a place for it, but I don’t think that should be underground hip-hop. A lot of the emcee’s I have heard, they lack a lot of the fundamentals like rhyming on beat and just being creative. Then the production most of the time has no soul to it. AHH: Are any of those cats making any money being abstract? Supa: A few are because they have a fan base. The Def Jux cats I think they picked up where Rawkus Records left off. Rawkus left a sour taste in a lot of Underground cats mouths because they wanted to do something bigger, so they kind of left a void there until Def Jux came in and took this “ Backpacker crowd”. A lot of them make their money mainly off of touring. AHH: Tell me about the first single "The Waiting Period?" Supa: I had my first recording contract when I was 16 and then I had another recording contract back when I was 19. I’m 26 now and I just got the Freshcrest deal maybe a year ago. Before that I was signed with Rasco from Cali Agents label. The song basically describes what every artist goes through. Everybody that is a DJ, MC or producer can feel that song because we’ve all been over looked; we have always watched people with less talent make it. I basically just documented everything that I went through. AHH: What do you think the future of Underground music is? Where do you see it being around 2005? Far as making money as an Underground artist where do you think it will go? Supa: I think the abstract music will kind of fade away because for one it doesn’t have standards. Anybody can do it; you don’t have to be a certain level of emcee to do it. AHH: Tell me about the one cut one your album featuring the sample from “The Queens of Comedy?" Supa: I have one daughter with my baby’s mother which was my first kid, here first kid. That is my only kid. After that she had 5 or 6 children after that by maybe 3 or 4 different guys. Once I think someone was talking to her about me and was like “oh he’s nothing, he’s a bad example, bla, bla, bla”. Up to that point I was always quite about it because I said I was always going to give her that respect. The situation went down where one of here kids died at 4 years old and the Dept. of Social Services came in because all the kids had lived with her at the time and took all the kids away. So my mother and me had to fight to get my daughter back because they were treating it like I don’t exist. She went to trial and ended up getting off on probation. So that song basically let people know the whole situation and how it went down. It was saying basically don’t call somebody out for being a bad father when I’m the only father that is there for any of your kids. Everybody with a baby Mama must feel that song. AHH: What do you think about vinyl? Will it be around for all the Hip Hop , Reggae and House DJ’s or this CD thing will take over? Supa: I think vinyl will be here forever man. I noticed a lot of other DJ’s are getting the CDJ’s (A Cd turntable made by Pioneer) but they are getting it as an extra. But I don’t think it will replace it ever.

While Amil’s first album was met with lukewarm reviews, it is generally accepted as a solid first album effort. If not for being on white hot Roc-A-Fella Records at the time, the album may have been met with better reviews. For some unknown reason, Amil has been publicly crucified and hated. Without a bitter bone in her body, Amil is out to reclaim past glories with an attitude newer than Patti Labelle’s. AllHipHop.com: What’s up with you music wise, obviously some things are going on ? A: Music wise I’m working on my second album. My last album it was two tracks on there that I thought was my realest jump off’s. This album is more on that level, real personal, it’s just realer. AllHipHop.com: Do you have a title for it yet? A: I have a title in mind but I’m not sure if that’s what I’m going to use for this, it’ kind of hot. I have a deal. It’s independent AllHipHop.com: Can you say who it is? A: Bell Ringers. They are former Murder Inc. producers. They’re backed by Pay Up Ent, which is the management team that handles Ice-T. I always have people coming to me with papers saying they can do this, that and the third but when it came down to it nothing jumped off. Something actually happened with this. AllHipHop.com: So what are they bringing to the game as far as your new album? A: I’m basically in control of the creative side of it all so I can truly say I have the most control of my project. I can say that about the last project too as far as my album was concerned. I did that all by myself. I like it that way, I can never see myself working for a label that’s telling me which direction to go in. AllHipHop.com: So you had total control over your last project as well? A: I had control as far as my album was concerned. The songs that I recorded and presented to them they loved and no song I did was rejected, so it was still all me. I’m about 7 songs deep and I’m only putting 13 on the album like last time. 13 is my number. AllHipHop.com: That’s a bad luck number. A: That’s what they want you to think It means Jesus and 12 tribes. I even had my baby boy on the 13th . 13 is my number and he was born after the album. Of course, with people every time it’s something positive they going to make something negative out of it and that’s why they go as far as to skip the 13th floor [in buildings]. Why would they go that far with it? It aint really a bad luck number, you’re fearing Christ. AllHipHop.com: On the Kay Slay joint, I only heard it one time. You mentioned something about your baby. What was that track all about as far as that was concerned? A: It was basically explaining how I feel about the industry. It was also talking about what I went through when people wasn’t hearing from me. It was just really real, talking about how radio was trying to sabotage me and people hate me because of one thing that went on. We want to sell records but at the end of the day you know the children are the ones that’s really buying your albums. You got them thinking that sh*t’s cool. I got to think about this realistically ’cause I got kids of my own. AllHipHop.com: When was your son born, In terms of your album and stuff? A: He was just born in March. It’s going to be a year. I got two boys and they 10 years apart. While all that sh*t was going on, I had a son. I also want to say before I was pregnant with him, that whole year before people was saying I was pregnant, but I wasn’t at that time. It’s like they talked it up. AllHipHop.com: Yeah, ’cause I had heard a couple of things, I heard that Jay was the father. A: Nah, me and Jay never slept with each other. I never slept with anybody at Roc-a-Fella. AllHipHop.com: Jay had a lyric in that song that you had with him? A: Oh yeah, And I’m having a child which is more frightening. That didn’t have nothing to do with me. Of course people going to think that. AllHipHop.com: I also heard it was Killa Priest? A: No. AllHipHop.com: Was there anything going on with you and Priest? A: I did deal with Priest for a couple of months. AllHipHop.com: What’s next for you, it seems like it’s on the upswing ’cause a lot of people are feeling that Kay Slay joint. I only heard that one joint from last week and we was all in the car and we were like damn, this sh*t is really hot. My man [Grouchy Greg] is the biggest music critic too. He don’t like a lot of sh*t but, he was really on it. So is this a new Amil that we’re going to see? A: It’s the same Amil.There was nothing exaggerated in that freestyle. As a matter of fact I could’ve been a lot more vicious, I could’ve attacked but I didn’t. People may not be feeling it ’cause I aint talking about money, cars or killing n##### and all that on this joint. So I expect y’all not to feel this. AllHipHop.com: Do you feel like you might have took some responsibility with your image? A: That’s exactly what I said in the freestyle. When I said the stuff about my little cousin thinkin’ she aint hot, I said I blame myself. I blame myself for that. I said it in the freestyle. It’s like I got to pay for the times I misled the people. AllHipHop.com: So what do you think about Hip-Hop and Rap music now as an […]

Joe Budden proclaims his freshman album will drop once “Def Jam gets off its ass.” Mighty words from a relative neophyte to the overcrowd game of hip-hop. However, Budden isn’t your average rookie. Through mix tapes and high-powered, visible associations [DJ Clue, Envy], he’s managed to skip Junior varsity squad and jump straight to the big leagues – side-by-side with all the Def Jam heavy hitters. After going through his share of trials, his penchant for rhyme writing acted as therapy for a drug addiction and turbulent childhood. Now that he is here, Joe is ready to slam dunk his demons and spit fire at unfit emcees. [Click here to LISTEN to Joe Budden’s new joint ‘Pump It Up.’] [Click here to WATCH Joe Budden discuss his childhood.] AllHipHop.com: Can you talk about your history of getting into the rap game? Joe Budden: How far back do you want me to go because I can go back! AllHipHop: Go back as far as we need to know. JB: I was probably about 12. It’s a long story so I’m going to try to sum it up. I was around 12 and I moved to New Jersey ‘cause my brother was in rehab. My mom and I were in Queens so we moved to New Jersey when my brother went to rehab. This rehab was real close with the family and it came about that I was getting high and I wrote [rhymes], so they started taking real in depth looks at my writing. I was real depressed. AllHipHop: How did you react to your conditions? JB: You name it – I was smoking it except for cocaine and heroin. Being depressed, isolated by my self, having issues from my mother, brother, the drugs writing [rhymes] was really all I had. That literally helped me live and be all right. I wasn’t trying to be a rapper, I wasn’t trying to get signed, and I had no idea really anything about a mix tape, major labels, the money it generated or anything like that. It was about me living and being alright so from me going from one rehab to another my mom put me in therapy where writing was also a major thing with the therapist and me, who read my lyrics and by me being depressed sent me to a psychiatrist, so really what I’m trying to say is my whole teen years were self help, programs and institutions. AllHipHop: How would you say those institutions factored into you as a rapper? JB: I think that played a big part of where I am and how I write. I don’t write the gimmick or the bullsh*t, I write for me. I stopped getting high at 17 and God works his magic once you stop getting high and start doing good things for yourself. I was 20, I had a demo ‘cause I was working on music but it wasn’t serious. I gave my demo to my godbrother; he gave it to Cutmaster C who gave it to Webb, who started his production company, On Top. They basically came to me like look we feel you can do it, we could get together and sell some records independently or we could get at the mix tapes hard however you want to do it we start a family and lets rock & roll. At the time my demo was trash, I was all right but I wasn’t nearly as developed as I am right now. We started hitting the mix tapes hard Cutmaster C, Clue, Envy and it generated a buzz. I never expected it and they never expected it. I don’t think when they signed me they knew the type of artist they was getting. I was just hitting the mix tapes being me so for people to grasp on to that is a blessing. AllHipHop: What about the psychiatrist when he or she read your rhymes, what were his or her thoughts? JB: The psychiatrist tried to put me on some anti-depressants and I flipped the desk over and wild out. Because they tried to act like I was really crazy and didn’t have any sense. I may have did some crazy sh*t on drugs but I’ve been a genius since I was five so people have been telling me, all through school I was about five grades ahead. School was boring so I left and the therapist new that, but she was doing her job she reading lyrics I want to kill myself, we got to send him. They thought I was a nut case. AllHipHop: Do you think a lot of black kids have that ‘cause I know my moms used to work in special education and they throw a lot of black kids in that little thing? JB: Yeah they do. AllHipHop: The mix tapes was real strong for you, I became familiar with you more recently I was a little late. Can you talk about your relationship with Clue and them and Desert Storm? JB: I’m not signed to Desert Storm as a lot of people may think. On Top signed me, the n##### from Queens, Desert Storm is from Queens. Clue and all them pretty much grew up together so the first place that they took my demo was Desert Storm. To my knowledge they aint want to do sh*t or they couldn’t afford to do sh*t or whatever it was, but Clue played me often on radio and mix tapes. I didn’t care if it was 11:59 [pm at the end of his show] he was playing me. Coming up as a kid to be on a Clue mix tape was some sh*t. Desert Storm does play a big part in Joe Budden’s life but, I’m not signed to them, I’m strictly signed to On Top/Def Jam. AllHipHop: Weren’t you in an article with them at one point? JB: Yeah, they family. At the end of the day they all family they just […]

There was something captured in the early 1980’s New York Hip-Hop culture that we may never have back: A carefree attitude, and the music to match it. In a year that eulogizes Run-DMC as the pioneers of taking Hip-Hop to the suburbs, I recall another pioneer who helped bring hip-hop to the dance floor. Steve “Steinski” Stein and his partner Double Dee owned New York radio waves in the early eighties with the “Pay Off Mix”, and the following three ‘lessons.’ Despite a contract with Tommy Boy Records, Steinski may be an unfamiliar name because his cut-and-paste mixes were too sample-heavy to ever clear. Still, Steinski’s musical visions echo in the work of DJ Shadow, Jurassic 5, Gang Starr, Beastie Boys, and nearly every other artist who ever used others’ records tell a story, or pass a message. From his New York office, the self-proclaimed “elderly” Steinski recalls the early days of Manhattan Hip-Hop. Just as his colorful anecdotes in the film Scratch, Steinski brings life to a closed book of culture, style, and some of the greatest records ever made. Age ain’t nothing but a number. AHH: In Scratch, I loved your account of the first time you experienced Hip-Hop. It really wasn’t long enough. I was hoping you could elaborate and recreate that experience. S: I had been collecting music for a while, and playing music as a DJ, although not as DJ’s are sort of commonly thought as now in clubs, or parties. It was just: play a record, the record fades down, start a new record. It was the first time in my life I ever had money to spend on records. I had a real job. And I could start going into record stores and actually purchasing records. Back then, vinyl was cheap man! I was spending a lot of money. I was spending five, six, seven thousand dollars a year on vinyl. And I was going into stores with lists of every record that I had remembered that I ever liked, I mean ever. And it was a wonderful thing. New York at that time had some really good radio stations, and one in particular was WPIX. It was a real discovery for me. They had Debora Harry and Chris Stein [ from Blondie] as guest DJ’s on this one show. They said, “Oh yeah, we were at a party in the Bronx last night and we got a bunch of records from there and brought them down.” And I was taping this thing, with half an ear. The next morning, I came back and listened to the tape, and was like, “Holy s**t! This is it man!” And I listened to the tape over and over again until I figured out what the title to one of the records was. And went down to one of the stores where I was shopping and I picked up this twelve inch like, “Holy s**t, I got it.” I brought it up the counter. And the woman who was sitting behind the counter looked at me, looked at the record, and said, “That’s a Rap record. If you don’t like it, you can’t bring it back.” I said, “It’s alright, I know what’s on it.” And I just stayed right with it. This was something that was really really important to me. AHH: You submitted “The Pay Off Mix” to Tommy Boy and won. How soon until the hip-hop community recognized you, and how did they accept you? AHH: I’d say that day. The day we won the contest. What happened was that we had submitted it, they said that the winners will be announced in five weeks. So of course, we thought two and a half months goes by, and they announce the winner. My secretary at the advertising agency, I’m coming back from a meeting, and she’s like, “Oh wow, Tommy from Tommy Boy called, you won the contest!” I called up [Tom Silverman], and [he congratulates me], and says, “Who are you, man? What kind of a master mixer has a secretary?” We went to the office which at that time was three employees in a tiny little office below street-level on the Upper East Side, and he told us, “When we were listening to the mixes just to screen them, we knew this one was gonna win. So this was the one we played last to all the judges the evening they came in.” They just loved it. We each got a complete catalog of Tommy Boy Records, which was like twenty records, [laughs] a cheap polo shirt, fifty bucks, and we needed some reel-to-reel tapes to send this out to radio stations so they can play it as part of the prize. AHH: The easiest way to associate your work to somebody is to simply say “The Lessons.” As far those lessons, when did you realize you were creating a series, and why did they stop? S: We never really thought of them as ‘the lessons’ so much as, we just thought of them as Double Dee and Steinski records. I just happened to have all these instruction records with that guy going, “Lesson one, Lesson two, Lesson three…” We’d stick that in, as make it easy for people. Don’t be too arty, just because they can’t understand it, doesn’t make it good. This was just a way we had of giving it a little bit of a hook. The reason it stopped because [Double Dee] lost his taste for making records in a big way. And he decided that it wasn’t like we’d ever lost touch, he was just like, “I’m moving in with my girlfriend out in Queens, and get a job again.” At the time, we were both free-lancing. That was when I did the Kennedy record [“The Motorcade Sped On”], because now it was time to figure out if I could make a record on my own. AHH: Sample clearances have held your career and stardom bac. […]

Whether it be original "Trouble Man" Marvin Gaye or embattled crooner R.Kelly, R&B men who exhibit abnormal or illicit behavior are often viewed as victims of a painful childhood. However, when rappers cross the line of respectable behavior they are viewed as deviants and delinquents. Critics then denigrate select lyrics from said rapper’s catalogue as poisonous influences on impressionable youths. Before we go running to the nearest media outlet to warn/scare Joe Schmoe about a rapper’s influence on his children, shouldn’t we instead offer a helping hand to the person who may really need help? With that said, AllHipHop.com went to Denyse Hicks, Ph.D. for answers. With over 15 years experience as a board certified expert in traumatic stress, Dr. Hicks and her company, Star Care, offer unique health programs that offer psychological and chemical dependency services for athletes and entertainers. "Studies have shown that children raised in physically abusive families are at increased risk to be assaultive toward an intimate partner when they reach adulthood," Dr. Hicks says. "This increased risk comes not only from direct modeling effects, but also from the development of a variety of potentially dysfunctional defenses." We asked Dr. Hicks to analyze some lyrics from a few hip-hop tracks and give an assessment on the performers. Though these commentaries are not a final diagnosis and are based solely on lyrics, Dr. Hicks noted they all seem to share the same origin-Trauma. DMX "X is Coming" Will have that same n*gga like you, gun in your mouth/ But won’t be like the last time when you run in the house/ ‘Cuz I ain’t knockin’ on the door I’m coming in the house/ And I’m gunnin’ for your spouse/ Trying to send the b*tch back to her maker/ And if you got a daughter older then 15, I’ma rape her/ Take her on the living room floor, right there in front of you/ Then ask you seriously, whatchu wanna do? / Frustrating’ isn’t it? Wanna’ kill me, but I’ma kill you/ Now watch me f*ck just a lil’ while longer, please, will you? Dr. Hicks: Controlling aggression is a focal issue for many trauma victims. Traumatized children have trouble modulating aggression, tending to act destructively towards themselves or others. Many traumatized children have temper tantrums and fights with siblings and schoolmates. Developmental studies of children’s reactions to repeated family conflict indicate that repeated exposure to strong negative emotions like anger becomes, for most children, an aversive experience encompassing strong arousal and behavioral expressions of anxiety (distress) or anger (aggression) especially when the conflict is not satisfactorily resolved. In abused boys, another prominent sequel of abuse is hyper aggression. Researchers suggested that abused boys are more likely than girls to identify with the original aggressor and to eventually perpetuate the abuse on their spouse and children. In their view, an effect of physical maltreatment by a parent is to exaggerate sex role characteristics, possibly as a means of shoring up the damaged self. They also noted that traumatized children had trouble modulating aggression and included being physically abused as a child as a trauma source. The four-predictor variables in this study were convictions for violent crime, history of violent suicide attempts, neurological abnormalities and deviance in the family environment. Some early potential stressors reported by the men: shaming and rejection from fathers, insecure attachment to mothers, witnessing parental violence and experiencing parental violence. We suggest that this combination of stressors is traumatic. Foxy Brown "What your Fantasy?" Remix: I’m a BK b*tch/ love to ride d*ck/ Ass in his face, c### spread out/ n*gga uptown, n*gga down south/ Same ol’ sh*t, foot’s in his mouth/ F-O-X /call me rough sex/ Especially when a b*tch get right on the X/ Get it, right on X/ f*ck him, check right to the next/ b*tches go right, Fox right to the left/ n*gga can’t f*ck, burner on his chest/36 D’s, Prada on the breasts/ Baddest, send him home with na na on his breath/ Dr. Hicks: The younger the age at which trauma was experienced, and the longer its duration, the more likely people are to have long-term effects with the regulation of arousal, anger, anxiety and sexual impulses. Childhood events generate chronic long term emotional responses, which are themselves, risk markers for interpersonal dysfunction and abusive behavior when adult intimate conflict occurs. There is a proclivity for intense, unstable interpersonal relationships characterized by intermittent undermining of the significant other, manipulation, and masked dependency; an unstable sense of self with intolerance of being alone and abandonment anxiety; and intense anger, demandingness, and impulsivity, usually tied to substance abuse and/or promiscuity. Factor analyses support the inclusion of the two factors (e.g. children and parents), in anticipatory anger, anxiety and "sub anger" (frustration, irritation) while needing to express the internal pain. More is now known about the intergenerational transmission of abusive behavior. This personality typically is formed by trauma in early childhood. Scarface "Diary of a Madman": Dear diary today I hit a n*gga with a torch/ Shot him on his face and watched him die on his front porch/ Left his family heartbroken/ Flashbacks of him laying there bleeding with his eyes open/I can’t put the sh*t behind me I’m know I’m here somewhere, but I can’t find me/ I used to be a drug dealer/ On the fo’reala/ now I’m a born killer/ and it ain’t no changing me/ It used to be hard, but now it ain’t no thing to me/ To go up to a n*ggas house/ Put a pistol in his mouth/ and blow his f*cking brains out/ Dr. Hicks: People who are exposed early to violence or neglect come to expect it as a way of life. They see the chronic helplessness of their mothers and fathers’ alternating outbursts of affection and violence; they learn that they themselves have no control. As adults they hope to undo the past by love, competency, and exemplary behavior. Males who have experienced childhood abuse victimization increased the likelihood of an […]

Dirty power house Houston, Texas has been atop the mix-tape circuit far longer than heads realize. Follow if you will. Important, but often overlooked segments of the mixtape underworld are DJ Screw, the Swisha House and the Freestyle Kings. Now, one Freestyle King that garnered national attention happens to be Lil’ Flip, who broke platinum independently last year. Part of his crew is a duo, Chamillionaire and Paul Wall. They made their debut on Swisha House mix tapes, then released Get Your Mind Correct through Houston’s indie label, Paid in Full Records. Plowing forward left lanes style, their first album moved almost 70,000 units. Allhiphop.com talks shop with the duo that’s now being courted by the majors. AllHipHop.com: How did ya’ll meet? Paul: just grew up together. we lived on the same block since we were about 6 or 7 years old. My parents know his parents, his parents know my parents. So we’ve been knowing each other for a long, long time. AHH: When did yall decide you were gonna start rhyming? Paul: Shoot, it was about the same time. we were little youngsters, about 6 or 7 years old. We were trying to rap back then. Chamillion: Yeah, all we did was rap and play basketball. We really started getting serious about it because everybody around us was rapping and they was just doubting us. So me, him and my brother started rapping all together. And now all of us rap. Me and Paul actually just made a group because we took it more seriously than everybody else. AHH: Your group was the Color Changin’ Click? Chamillion: That name into effect a little bit later. As you mature you get comfortable with your style and how you want to present yourself and the Color Changin’ Click just evolved. We went through a whole bunch of face changes and group name changes, just like every other rap group. AHH: When did you first get in on the mix tape circuit out there in Houston? Paul: It was at the end of 1999. Michael Watts was doing the mix CDs and Swisha House tapes and we was always cool with Watts, because he knew us through other things. We used to do street promotions for a lot of clubs and parties and events and record labels. I was only 18 back then but we had known Watts since we were 14. Me and Chamillion had a big, strong street reputation for doing street promotions even though we were only like 15, 16 years old. Michael Watts knew us from doing that and he knew we rapped too and we were just some cool dudes. So we naturally had to hook up with him. We were just waiting for the right time. And when the time came around, next thing you know, we’re on a mix CD. AHH: The Dirty South sound is finally getting recognized nationally, when do you think the turning point was? Chamillion: Like we’re not really respected. That’s why really I think people really feel me and Paul. I feel like we’re good representatives for that Southern style of music. Even though we’re doing it in a Southern flavor, people from other coasts can still feel it because it’s more of a nationwide feel. Paul: A lot of East Coast artists started recognizing the potential of putting a down South artist on their album, how it just expanded their record sales. Like if the Wu Tang Clan put UGK on their CD, there’s going to be a whole bunch of UGK fans that might hate Wu Tang Clan but they’ll buy it just because of UGK. AHH: What makes the chopped and screwed sound so tight for yall? Paul: It’s crazy because at first, when we were younger we didn’t feel screwed music. And I just started catching on to it, listening to Slim Thug rap and listening to Watts do his CDs. And it’s like, growing up, DJ Screw, when he put out his tapes they’d be screaming South Side and we were from the North Side. It was kinda disrespectful. like if somebody on the North Side got caught with a DJ Screw tape they’d get talked about. There was still people that jammed it, but for the most part a lot of people on the South Side was the ones supporting DJ Screw first. So when Michael Watts started doing CDs it kinda gave a lot of the people on the North Side something to really embrace. And that’s when I started listening to it. And I was cool with Michael Watts, and I was trying to make a dollar too, so I got in the game distributing CDs even before I was rapping on them. At first I really didn’t like it, but I thought about how much money it could make me and eventually it grew on me and I started liking it. It grew on me pretty quick. AHH: What cities have yall toured to? Paul: Everywhere in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama. We’ve got a show coming up in Cleveland, Ohio. We have a strong following. A lot of the people from Houston, from Texas or just from the Dirty South that jams Screw. They move or whatever, there’s a lot of people that moved to New York but they still jam Screw. Chamillion: And that just comes from those underground mix tapes. You put some mix tapes out in every city and you might sell a certain amount of units then that triples because most of the people out there bootlegging it, and you’re getting new fans daily. The mix tapes are promoting us. And that’s why we named our album “Get Your Mind Correct” because people know who we are now. And all the retailers is like “how are these dudes selling like this and we’ve never even heard of them?” We been in the game, you know. AHH: Get Your Mind Correct, is an independent release right? Paul: The […]

AllHopHop.com: Let’s jump right into it, every one is anticipating your new CD- The Self. Why do you think there is such a buzz surrounding your CD? Kam: The masses want a change in what they hear. They want the conscious. They want some thing with more grit, more substance. AllHopHop: You know, I would like your opinion, the colleges are speaking out about lyrics that are anti women, what are your thoughts about this. You are apart of the Gangster Rap genre. Kam: It makes no fu**ing sense to me as to why we would dismiss the person we come out of- The Black Woman. I mean that s### don’t make sense. AllHopHop: I got a chance to listen to some of your CD. And without a doubt I am so impressed with your CD. This seems like to me, the best CD that you have produced thus far, what did you do different? Kam: Well, I just tightened up the production. I think pain and my own personal struggles made me come from a deeper level. My production is hitting harder, My lyrics are hitting harder, My record label have hard riders on it. So we are taking no prisoners this year and we are just gonna be straight bangin’… AllHopHop: What is your relationship to the streets? Kam: (Ha) I am a street n####. I mean my album Kamnesia was highly rotated in the prisons, in the gutters of America, the mainstream didn’t pay my sh*t any attention, but the Crips, the Bloods, the Black Guerillas, the hustlers, the Gangsters paid my sh*t attention. And that’s who I am talking to on this CD, the streets. My relationship with the Streets and the Struggle hasn’t changed. It wont change, Allah willing. AllHopHop: Ok, now why did you name your CD – The SELF? Kam: Because at every level no matter where you go to, you gonna have to deal with your self sooner or later. The hood we gotta get ourselves together, America gotta take a look at herself, and I had to look at myself when I was going through some s### in my life, it went back to me, and what the f**k I was doing. America running around looking for terrorists, well s### she is the number one terrorists, she gotta look at The Self. AllHopHop: Speaking of America, and the number one Fox News Devil advocate, Bill O Reily do you have any thoughts on him? Kam: Naw, Sh*t. F**k him. Period. He ain’t fit to judge the hood, me or my peers. AllHopHop: You being in the Nation [of Islam] has it made it more difficult speaking out on 9/11? Kam: Yea I mean just look at the sh*t with Public Enemy, MTV tried to ban their sh*t because of a Mumia picture come on now! America doesn’t want the truth. But we got people like Farrakhan, who don’t give a f**k about entertaining falsehood and popularity contests. He just care about the truth. I follow his example. We all should. Speak up no matter who or what. AllHopHop: Are you afraid of the war against Iraq? Kam: We’ve been at war. Black people been attacked. This war ain’t new to us. 9/11 happened 24/7 in Watts, in Detroit, in Compton, in Philly, in Queens, we were always unsure when a tragic event would wipe out our entire community. That sh*t is nothing new to us. AllHopHop: Every one wanted us to ask you about Ice Cube and your beef with Ice Cube. You both started on the same page, now on a total different direction, you care to comment? Kam: He is on his path, I am on mine. I don’t like to entertain small n#### vs. n#### beefs. I’m fighting something bigger- oppression. I am going against the evils of the government, and world leaders. I ain’t interested in no silly as beef against my brother. Sh*t we need to unite and fight this common enemy. AllHopHop: Being in the Nation, you still curse, you still carry yourself like a gangster, do you get flack from members in the Nation? Kam: It’s a struggle to be righteous in a world that’s anti-God, anti-peace, anti- Black. So I ain’t gonna put on no fake ass persona for Nobody. I chill with the same n##### I did in the beginning, and I’m Muslim. I bang for the right side now. That’s the only difference, I’m still in the Street. AllHopHop: Why should people get your upcoming CD, when does it come out? What can we expect? Kam: I mean you can expect some sh*t that will make the hair on your neck stand up, and some mellow s###. You can expect me to kick the real sh*t, and bang all the way through it. There is no softness in this CD period. But get it because you want to get it. Don’t get it because of a f**king commercial. In 2003 start following your hearts again, honor the struggle, by really listening to your hearts.

AllHopHop.com: Let’s jump right into it, every one is anticipating your new CD- The Self. Why do you think there is such a buzz surrounding your CD? Kam: The masses want a change in what they hear. They want the conscious. They want some thing with more grit, more substance. AllHopHop: You know, I would like your opinion, the colleges are speaking out about lyrics that are anti women, what are your thoughts about this. You are apart of the Gangster Rap genre. Kam: It makes no fu**ing sense to me as to why we would dismiss the person we come out of- The Black Woman. I mean that s### don’t make sense. AllHopHop: I got a chance to listen to some of your CD. And without a doubt I am so impressed with your CD. This seems like to me, the best CD that you have produced thus far, what did you do different? Kam: Well, I just tightened up the production. I think pain and my own personal struggles made me come from a deeper level. My production is hitting harder, My lyrics are hitting harder, My record label have hard riders on it. So we are taking no prisoners this year and we are just gonna be straight bangin’… AllHopHop: What is your relationship to the streets? Kam: (Ha) I am a street n####. I mean my album Kamnesia was highly rotated in the prisons, in the gutters of America, the mainstream didn’t pay my sh*t any attention, but the Crips, the Bloods, the Black Guerillas, the hustlers, the Gangsters paid my sh*t attention. And that’s who I am talking to on this CD, the streets. My relationship with the Streets and the Struggle hasn’t changed. It wont change, Allah willing. AllHopHop: Ok, now why did you name your CD – The SELF? Kam: Because at every level no matter where you go to, you gonna have to deal with your self sooner or later. The hood we gotta get ourselves together, America gotta take a look at herself, and I had to look at myself when I was going through some s### in my life, it went back to me, and what the f**k I was doing. America running around looking for terrorists, well s### she is the number one terrorists, she gotta look at The Self. AllHopHop: Speaking of America, and the number one Fox News Devil advocate, Bill O Reily do you have any thoughts on him? Kam: Naw, Sh*t. F**k him. Period. He ain’t fit to judge the hood, me or my peers. AllHopHop: You being in the Nation [of Islam] has it made it more difficult speaking out on 9/11? Kam: Yea I mean just look at the sh*t with Public Enemy, MTV tried to ban their sh*t because of a Mumia picture come on now! America doesn’t want the truth. But we got people like Farrakhan, who don’t give a f**k about entertaining falsehood and popularity contests. He just care about the truth. I follow his example. We all should. Speak up no matter who or what. AllHopHop: Are you afraid of the war against Iraq? Kam: We’ve been at war. Black people been attacked. This war ain’t new to us. 9/11 happened 24/7 in Watts, in Detroit, in Compton, in Philly, in Queens, we were always unsure when a tragic event would wipe out our entire community. That sh*t is nothing new to us. AllHopHop: Every one wanted us to ask you about Ice Cube and your beef with Ice Cube. You both started on the same page, now on a total different direction, you care to comment? Kam: He is on his path, I am on mine. I don’t like to entertain small n#### vs. n#### beefs. I’m fighting something bigger- oppression. I am going against the evils of the government, and world leaders. I ain’t interested in no silly as beef against my brother. Sh*t we need to unite and fight this common enemy. AllHopHop: Being in the Nation, you still curse, you still carry yourself like a gangster, do you get flack from members in the Nation? Kam: It’s a struggle to be righteous in a world that’s anti-God, anti-peace, anti- Black. So I ain’t gonna put on no fake ass persona for Nobody. I chill with the same n##### I did in the beginning, and I’m Muslim. I bang for the right side now. That’s the only difference, I’m still in the Street. AllHopHop: Why should people get your upcoming CD, when does it come out? What can we expect? Kam: I mean you can expect some sh*t that will make the hair on your neck stand up, and some mellow s###. You can expect me to kick the real sh*t, and bang all the way through it. There is no softness in this CD period. But get it because you want to get it. Don’t get it because of a f**king commercial. In 2003 start following your hearts again, honor the struggle, by really listening to your hearts.

Real Name: Christopher Wallace Alias: The Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, Frank White Birth: May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York Death: March 9th, 1997 in Los Angeles, California The Brooklyn-born rapper Notorious B.I.G. first gained attention for his work back in 92′ on Mary J. Blige’s "What’s the 411?". When Brooklyn’s own Christopher Wallace first got on wax with his own first single "Party and B#######" on 1993’s "Who’s The Man?" soundtrack, we only got a hint of what was to come from this rapper. Then Uptown Records executive Sean "Puffy" Combs signed Notorious B.I.G. to his fledging Bad Boy Records that year and history was written. When he delivered his debut album, Ready to Die, in 1994, it became one of the most popular hip-hop releases of the year. In June of 1995, his single "One More Chance" debuted at number five in the pop singles chart, tying Michael Jackson’s "Scream / Childhood" as the highest-debuting single of all time. Ready to Die continued to gain popularity throughout 1995, eventually selling two million copies. With its success, the Notorious B.I.G. became the most visible figure in hip-hop. The perfect mix of commercial materialism and realistic thuggery, Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 debut, the multi-platinum "Ready to Die," made him an immediate hip-hop superstar. His rhymes about the lavish life of movies in Jacuzzis and holding "C-notes by the layers" entranced his ghetto fabulous listeners while bangers like "Warning" with dark eerie images captivated rap purists. Spreading love the Brooklyn way, B.I.G. ushered long-time friends Li’l Kim and Li’l Cease into the spotlight, forming Junior M.A.F.I.A. The crew’s 1995 "Conspiracy" went gold and Li’l Kim’s subsequent solo album, 1996’s "Hardcore" went platinum and B.I.G. became a rap institution.   However, the wheels had been set in motion for a tragedy in 97′. Early on the morning of March 9th, The Notorious B.I.G. was returning to his hotel in Los Angeles after a Soul Train Award party when another car pulled up aside his G.M.C. Suburban in front of the Peterson Automobile Museum and opened   four shot’s pass through the side door where Notorious B.I.G. was seated and entered leaving the world wide loved rapper un-conscious and tragically died upon arrival to a near by hospital. Biggie’s death was a vicious and strong shock to the entire music industry and sent shock waves around the world. The Notorious B.I.G.’s public funeral, however, was anything but peaceful. Thousands flooded into his Brooklyn neighborhood to catch a glimpse of his hearse, jumping on cars and clashing with police; ten people were arrested. A private funeral held earlier was more cordial, with Queen Latifah and members of Public Enemy and Naughty by Nature in attendance. The casket was open from the waist up, and the rapper had been fitted in a double-breasted white suit and matching hat. Many artist have paid homage to The Notorious B.I.G. especially his own label mates who dedicated and released the mournful song "I’ll be Missing You" as their gratitude and respect’s to Biggie’s short but very bright life. May 14 was declared Notorious B.I.G. Day, with over two hundred radio stations nationwide playing the single, followed by a thirty-second moment of silence.  This single itself went onto sell more than three millions copies and funds from the single went to his children he left behind. The Notorious B.I.G.’s second album, the posthumous double-disc "Life After Death", was released three weeks later, debuting at number one on the charts. The album featured Biggie in an enlightened spirit. The album released #1 hit’s like the now hip hop classic song’s "Hypnotize" & "Mo Money Mo Problems" just to name a few which itself became one of the biggest rap album’s ever recorded hitting diamond status for being the first hardcore rap album to ever do that. Two years later after his death,  yet another posthumous album released after Biggie’s departure. "Born Again" is released and debut’s at #1 again on the chart. The album featured allot of top hip hop artist including Lil’ Kim, Lil’ Cease, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Ice Cube and other well known rappers paying their respect’s in a celebration of the late great rappers life and legacy. When clubs and concert’s featured B.i.G., he always blew up the show with his lyrical tales of his life experiences and voyage into the realms of stardom and fame. Biggie said in an interview that his major role models while growing up in the streets of New York were the local drug dealers of the block and added that they gave him a view of what life was about on the streets. The Notorious B.I.G. was a great rapper and performer because of his unique touch of lyrical and vocal production which opened the hip hop culture to a wider audience. Christopher Wallace was undoubtedly one of the greatest rapper of all time in history and will never be forgotten by his many friends and million of fans all over the globe. Notorious B.I.G survived by his wife and three children which before died, gave life to a new born baby boy with his wife. Still today many intellectually want to learn about the late great rapper. Many remember what he accomplished as well as gained in his very young bright successful career. Notorious B.I.G. might be physically gone but spiritually he will always be here cause he was larger than life. The murder investigation of The Notorious B.I.G is still active to this day but there have still been no arrests in the murder… courtesy of www.notoriousonline.com

Young Noble, E.D.I., Kastro, and Napoloean, the Outlawz, are perhaps the most slept on, while being the most well known group of MC’s in rap today. They first came onto the music scene in 1995. Back then they were known as Dramacydal and were featured on the single Outlaw from 2Pac’s album Me Against the World. They continued to make a mark, guaranteeing them a place in hip-hop history as Pac’s protégés. Having been featured on many of 2Pac’s albums such classics hits as "Hail Mary" and "Hit Em Up," the Outlawz had a hand in the selling of over 20 million albums worldwide. Last year, the Outlawz released their debut CD Ride Wit Us or Collide Wit Us on their independent effort Outlaw Recordz in November of 2000. Novakane, the group’s sophomore joint was released exactly one year to the day of their debut album. AllHipHop.com: What angle does this CD take? Outlawz: Well I mean, um, there’s really no type of angle, we’re coming direct really. I’m going to be honest with you, we’re not sugar-coating it. And at the same time, not talkin’ about, we’re not addressing a lot of the issues that’s popular in rap right now, which is cars, money, and that type of thing. We are addressing the same issues we been addressing and that’s fame, tryin’ to come up, tryin’ to keep your head up, and the struggle to strive (and) stay alive in this world. AllHipHop.com: So does Pac’s influence play a major part on this project? Outlawz: He influences everything we do, you know what I mean, he’s our main influence as far as music goes. And I say ‘influence’, I don’t mean, like, we aspire to sound like him, or rap like him, or make music like him. It’s just the influence that’s obvious being that we spent so much time recording and living and workin’ with him. AllHipHop.com: Has it been hard for you guys as a group to get out of Pac’s shadow? Or is that even a bad place to be? Outlawz: I mean, it’s always difficult when you came up with somebody that’s so large- such a huge star. It’s like adouble edged sword. Sometimes people don’t respect what you work for, what you work hard for. They assume that everything you’ve got, you got because of him. At the same time, it gets us in a lot of doors, you know, that maybe the average rapper that ain’t associated with Pac can’t get through. So, you know what I mean, we don’t spend a lot of time thinkin’ about it, we don’t spend a lotof time worrying about the ‘shadow’, you know what I mean, ’cause we gonna create our own shadow for somebody else to be in. AllHipHop.com: What kind of effect do you think the Outlawz’ music has on young heads who listen to hip-hop? Outlawz: Well I know first off, when they first listen to our album, they’re going to notice the difference, you know what I mean. It’s like a hot knife through butter, it’s gonna slice through whatever is out there, because it’s uncut, it’s the truth. The truth wreaks, you know what I mean? You’ll smell the truth anywhere, no matter what is in the room. So I feel like our album is gonna affect the kids in a more positive way. It’s a lot of stress on kids right now. They feel like they gotta be rich to mean something, you know what I mean? Rappers don’t just wake up in the morning and throw on a platinum chain and drive your Bentley around, and it’s that easy. That’s telling them lies right there, that’s settin’ ’em up for failure. AllHipHop.com: Do you think the recent attack on America has affected hip hop? Outlawz: I don’t know man, you know, the thing only happened a little while ago, so I think we’ll see the affects of it moreso in the next year. It didn’t affect our music at all because we’ve been always doin’ the same thing. So, as far as the rest of the game, I don’t really know. I think we’ll see the influence in the next coming years or so. But at the same time, you know, money is a powerful thing. Some of these dudes done got so rich off the rap game, they’re oblivious to what’s goin’ on in the real world. AllHipHop.com: There’s a rumor goin around that on the last track ("Loyalty") of Novakane, that’s maybe a diss towards Fatal, is that true? can u clarify that at all? Outlawz: Ay man, you gotta listen to it and ya’ll tell us, nahmean? Its just bout people who ain’t loyal, man. "Loyalty" is bout people who ain’t loyal, and people… fly-by-night n#####, you know whut I mean, that’s loyal when its good and soon as it get bad they wanna jump ship and go to the next team and all of that.. AllHipHop.com: Oh word, so are u in contact wit Fatal at all? Outlawz: Nah. AllHipHop.com: How’s ya relationship with Death Row and Suge Knight, now that he’s out of jail? Outlawz: There is no relationship, nahmean? We wish them the best and we doin our thing. AllHipHop.com: When you left Death Row, were there any Outlawz tracks left behind or did you take everythin with you? Outlawz: Nah, there’s still stuff over there. It’s the Retribution album that we did wit Death Row, is over there AllHipHop.com: Do you know if they’re gonna plan on releasing that or is that just gonna be in the archives? Outlawz: I dunno, you gotta ask Suge AllHipHop.com: What do you say to fans who still think 2Pac is alive? Outlawz: What do I say to them? You know what, I say to em that he is alive, so long as ya’ll still listening to his music, nahmean? His spirit is alive and well, and it’s thrivin’ right now. AllHipHop.com: How do you feel […]

Picture this. A DJ named X-Ray’s fingers gracefully stroke the smooth surface of vinyl for the likes of MC Shan and EPMD. After being involved in various Hip-Hop entities, he and former Legion of D.U.M.E. member, Kev Roc go on to form a group that will bring a sound to the world that can best be described only by their name, Darc Mind. The two-year process of putting these in-depth, sinister lyrics backed by gritty, old-school beats on wax, takes from 1995-1997. And while the rest of the world’s ears are being graced with fellow Loud label mates, Wu-Tang Clan and Tha Beatnuts, their debut album never reaches the masses due to an unfortunate fold in the record label. Now picture this. It’s 2006, and a kid from Brooklyn walks into a record store, or for the sake of the generation, browses an online apple store and comes across an album that sparks his interest. At first when he listens to it something in him, almost cult-like, makes him want to turn it off because it doesn’t make his fingers snap or his shoulders lean. But then he hears traces of Nas, Rakim, and Public Enemy sampled in a way he’s never heard before and…he really likes it. Having no distinct regional affiliation or even time period, this kid would have never guessed that the album released this year was recorded over ten years ago. This is the journey of the forgotten beginning, frustrating middle, and bright future of Darc Mind. AllHipHop.com: Did the two of your first meet as members of Legion of D.U.M.E. and how did Darc Mind come to be? Kev Roc: Nah, WEB and I first met through a third party, a friend of ours that I knew from school and WEB just knew from around his way, his name is Trace Levine. Trace is a clothing designer, he has line out called Down to Earth that he currently manufactures online and sells from his own shop. Well, Trace put us down back in the day, he had heard me freestyling and he was like, “Yeah, I’ma turn you onto this cat, he makes beats, y’all might be able to do something”. So, I met WEB in the summer of ‘89 and hit him up, got to know one another and started to bang s**t out. AllHipHop.com: Both of you moved to Loud Records after Legion of D.U.M.E. broke up, did you sign with them because of their reputation as a label or because of your relationship with [former D.U.M.E. member turned A&R at Loud] Scott Free? Kev Roc: It was all of those things, actually, it was bigger than that, it was kind of a timing thing. Ya know what I’m sayin’, it just seemed like a natural progression and in all honesty, it was what was easiest, which was what was bad about it. If it ain’t hard, it ain’t worth it, ya know? AllHipHop.com: So, what are your feelings today toward Steve Rifkind? Kev Roc: Oh, it’s all good, I mean, Steve was always straight up and down with me. I mean, he never misled me in any way, ya know, we didn’t keep a great deal of company but, I didn’t avail myself to that, WEB did, and he benefited from that. But, it’s all good with Rif, Rif is doing his thing, I would have liked to have made more of that opportunity but whatever it didn’t turn into is no reflection of Rifkind. AllHipHop.com: Loud folded because they didn’t hit sales figures that were expected, now that Steve Rifkind is CEO of SRC, artists such as David Banner and Remy Ma have expressed their frustration with how their projects were handled, what do you attribute this to? Kev Roc: Well, I can’t speak with Remy and that other cat, I can only come from my own perspective and the thing I know about working with Rifkind, he gives you the opportunity to really do s**t your own way. The groups that I did see be successful on Loud, they were groups that did all of their own leg work, they did a lot of their own street promotions. They were groups that were gonna succeed whether Rifkind was behind or other entities were behind them and that’s not relieve the label of all blame, ya know, they f**cked up along some lines. I think it’s because they put all their eggs in baskets that were paying at that time. I think they were very in the moment, I think their business practice reflected [them] responding to things in the moment, which at that time was appropriate. I think that was the environment of the record business at that time, so ya know, I really can’t be mad. Hip-Hop is bigger than Loud, it’s bigger than Rifkind, it’s bigger than Darc Mind, it’s an ocean man, it’s bigger than all that. AllHipHop.com: You’ve said that you guys made good money messing with Loud, but they were too unorganized. Would you have ended up leaving even if they hadn’t folded? Kev Roc: Probably. Not so much leaving but doing what we’re doing now which is doing our own s**t. That’s what Wu did, ya know, that’s what made Wu attractive to somebody like Rifkind. X-Ray: We were doing that in the beginning before they met us anyway. We were trying to that on our own to begin with. Kev Roc: They recognize what this s**t is and I think Rifkind recognizes that in other people, he sees it, he gets it, and you wanna do business with like-minded folks. AllHipHop.com: Your album was recorded from ‘95-’97, Loud folded in 2002, why was your debut never released? Kev Roc: Uhh, I don’t think I have an answer for that question. X-Ray: Well, after the Loud deal I started doing production for a lot of other groups and me and Kev just took some time off. AllHipHop.com: So, it was by choice, not because […]

On the eve of his re-release of Operation Doomsday, MF Doom finds himself in the dark alleys of Philly as the first line up to Fluid’s monthly Oratory Explaratorium. Who is this masked marvel that came to destroy rap in the city of brotherly beats? At 29 years of age Doom, who many remember as Zevlove X from KMD’s production on the 3rd Bass album Derelicts of Dialect, is beginning to see the fruits of his labor. He has put together a masterful blend of smooth melodic beats and licorice rhymes, originally released by F##### ‘EM Records (Bobbito "Cucumberslice" Garcia’s label) and now re-released by Subverse Music. The supped-up Subverse release contains additional graph drawings, a Shockwave video and a new track added. "I hooked up with Subverse through my man Big Jus, from Company Flow. He was diggin’ the album. At the time, availability of the CD was limited; it wasn’t as widespread as it could be. But it was quite popular as I hear. Jus saw it as an opportunity to help the album get exposure, the exposure that it deserved to get. So I licensed it to Subverse, so they could take care of getting it to into the stores it needed to be in." Jus had to like it, because not only is Subverse bringing the second coming of Doomsday, but they decided to re-release the KMD album Black Bastards as well. The super villain’s promotional appearance in Philly showed a little of what Jus must have seen in his work. Doom’s live set consists of a CD pressed with his homemade concoctions of tracks and himself. No DJ, no live music, just what he produces at home in his studio. To say that it’s refreshing to see someone with such a "Do It Yourself" attitude doesn’t do justice to the structure that Doom’s work is based upon. "I’m like this, I started out in this hip hop game DJ-ing, and then I gradually started writing lyrics, in like ‘82 or ‘83, and then graduated to the graffiti school of things. That was my hip hop upbringing. So I’m well versed in all aspects. If I need to make a beat, I can make a beat. If I have a verse, I’ll just make a beat." (He even drew the cover art for CD) "No one can capture what I’m trying to represent better than me. I have the image right here in my head. Even if it were a stick figure drawing, it’s still most accurate coming from me. I figure cut to the chase and eliminate the middleman. The one thing I don’t do is make my own masks. I have a new mask; the other one got f##### up. I lost it in LaGuardia Airport." ( Doom refuses to be seen or photographed without his "doom mask.") Doom’s inventive approach to his music is amplified in "Tick, Tick" which features incarcerated partner MF Grimm. The song experiences tempo changes forcing Doom and Grimm to mimic tempo changes of the beat. "I did the beat and I came up with the track first. I always try to come with something that no one else is doing. So I’m searchin’ for that little niche and I found it with the tempo change. Most people stick to the standard 1-2-3-4 computerized s###. I like to break that barrier up. Using the computer to time music, to me, takes something away from the soul of the music, so I did that to put that it back into the music. I still use the technology, but I keep it loose." MF Grimm (Doom’s cohort and fellow member of KMD) came up with the rhyme flow. "As soon as he heard the beat, he had a flow to it. Certain MC’s are just like that. The beats I do I might not have anything written over it, nobody could be feelin’ it and play it for this one cat and he’ll be like "Yo that’s the s###."

When asked about the disproportionate volume of glam and glit to creative and artistic music these days, Doom will tell you: "It’s kind of a problem in Hip hop, as far as the actual product that comes out to the public. The public is paying for it. You got cats that’s in it that think …’Ok, I gotta make some money, I’m gonna start rhyming.’ That’s short changing the public cause the give half-assed tunes that are just for the dough. Back in the day from ‘83 – ‘89 not everybody rhymed. Now everybody rhymes." "See I can’t help it. I have to do it. But while I’m doing it, I’m gonna make dough off it. Even if I weren’t making dough I’d still be doing it. Just today, Today … I’m starting to think damn, I must be nasty." Part of Doom’s past, the part that he seems to hold most dearest and discusses with fondness, is the memory of his friend, colleague and brother Sub Roc who past away in a head-on car collision. Sub Roc was one of the members of KMD and Doom’s younger sibling. "Sub was the illest n####. Illest illest illest. The tragedy was that he had to leave the earth. If he was here, if were both here at the same time, forget it. The rap s### would have been over by now. We would’ve had the rap game sewn up. He was like me, in my intensity, but more… and iller." "KMD stills rocks on. We got another KMD album in the works right now. Every time someone goes back to the essence, it only makes us stronger, cause now we got someone over there now. He’s still around; he’s just over there. He just pulls through from that side." KMD’s release of the album Black Bastards, featured propagandist artwork from the black face era of racism’s heyday. It portrays figure hanging from the gallows with black face features in an eerie illustration a la Disney style. "The CD cover, the way it was structured was to get attention, to draw the eye. Using propaganda to reverse the s###. A lot of racism and stereotypes are based on propaganda, I study and I see how it spread and propaganda keeps [racism] alive. They were trying to make a depiction of people like me. People were like ok, we don’t want to hire a black actor, or whatever the case so they hire Al Jolsen to throw on the black face and go out there and try to mimic the way blacks act. " "It’s like this, when you have something that’s negative, it always tries to draw a negative out of you. Racism breeds more racism. It just continues the circle of hate. It perpetuates the whole thing. So I’m looking like this, why don’t we stop it in it’s tracks and turn it 180&Mac251;. ‘Oh word that’s supposed to be me?’ I’ll take it and make it into this. Humor, it puts a dampening on a lot of that it kinda throws water in it and makes the whole thing corny." It was a cheap insult, not even a good one. "But you have to stay in that mode [of thinking]. If I was in any other mode, I’d be flippin’ right now. There’s no other way to stay sane. Objectivity and duality, you gotta see both sides of the fence." Duality is definitely a familiar part of the Doom / Zevlove X repertoire. "[I’m] something like an actor, how an actor will play a part. After he’s done with that role, he gets another script and perfect that role. It just so happens that I’m the actor, director, and writer, which makes it easier. I wrote it so I know it." The autoure is modest about his underground success. "I guess I’ve got it if you say so…being appreciated definitely adds more fire to what I’m doing. When you’re appreciated for what you do, it adds that extra bit."

Phyllis Pollack knew Eric Wright early in his career, and was one of those who went to the hospital in 1995. Phyllis worked as a publicist for various NWA and Eazy E albums over the ten year career. She’s even the one who wrote the liner notes in the re-released Straight Outta Compton and albums. As somebody who worked for Eric “Eazy E” Wright, Phyllis told us a lot of things that few know: Eazy’s private charities, his NWA reunion plans, and the often simplified battle to get NWA heard in the late 1980’s. Throughout her career and today, Phyllis Pollack’s Def Press has been publicizing news and information about The Geto Boys, NWA, and Compton’s Most Wanted, among many others. That being said, read what a true industry insider can tell us about Eazy from many standpoints in our next part in the Eazy E tribute series. Eric Wright is dearly missed. AllHipHop.com:What was it like the first time you met Eric? Phyllis Pollack: I don’t remember the first time. How it got started initially was that there was an FBI letter that had surfaced, regarding “Straight Outta Compton.” I was asked to get involved and get to the bottom of it, and to get the word out to the press on it. That’s how I first got involved as a publicist regarding that. I did so much research on the letter, and who was behind it. I also wrote about it on a journalistic level, and I co-wrote a lengthy story on it with Dave Marsh, which was published as the cover story of The Village Voice in New York. Marsh is really brilliant, and the impact of the article was that it send shockwaves throughout the industry. Billboard and the Hollywood Reporter each came out stories on what we had exposed in our article. In fact, when you watch the VH1 Behind the Music episode on Dr. Dre, they show both of their articles that reference our story. Oprah Winfrey even held up the front cover of our article on her show, and she talked about the article. It was a huge, big deal what was going down. AllHipHop.com: He responded to that, and you began work directly with him? PP: After that, I started working for his label for a while. I was also working for him at the time he went into the hospital, too. I represented some of his groups like Above The Law, Kokane and the other stuff. He actually brought over other people that weren’t on his label that he wanted me to do press for. That was real cool, too. AllHipHop.com: I know he was also a friend of yours. He was hard it to separate business and friendship? PP: You can’t in a way, because this is our lives. But he was very approachable – somebody you could talk to. Some artists, they will only talk about themselves or things pertaining to their career. He would ask different stuff, and be curious on a personal level. It wasn’t just, “You work for me, and I’m this icon.” He was personally interested in people. AllHipHop.com: You worked with him at a time when he was in high-demand, and when he had faded a bit as well from the public consciousness. How was he different in the later years? PP: I wouldn’t say it that way. I don’t think he ever faded from consciousness, at least not when he was alive. There was just that period later on that had a lot of drama. And unfortunately, that diverted a lot of people’s attention away from things it shouldn’t have. First off, let’s talk about the earlier times. There are a lot of things that people don’t know today about how things were back then, as far as Hip-Hop, in general. If you weren’t there back then, it may seem that it was a certain way, because of what you see nowadays. But if you were around and involved in certain things, it wasn’t quite that way. First off, going back to the early days, a lot of the mainstream press had zero interest in Hip-Hop. A lot of the mainstream writers didn’t understand it, and they just pretty much ignored it. In fact, in the later years, I had at least two pretty major reporters contact me and actually apologize and say that they were really wrong in not having taken a bigger interest in what was going on with Eric early on. You need to remember that in the beginning, nine labels had turned down distributing NWA’s stuff. When Billboard started going by Soundscan for the charts, that was what made a really big difference. You would think that this record would be down on the charts [because of this]. Within the first month of Soundscan, NWA debuted at the #2 album in the country and the next week was #1. So NWA was the first was the first #1 Gangsta Rap album on the Billboard charts. It was not The Chronic, which has often been incorrectly reported. Upon NWA’s topping the charts, most of the industry went into shock. At that point, the majors started taking a look at giving these various Hip-Hop producers production deals. There was a lot of Hip-Hop being signed that wasn’t really very good after that. People thought they were able to have the next NWA. Eric was not recognized as being the powerhouse that he was because Dre’s presence at Death Row overshadowed it. AllHipHop.com: There was a lot of resistance from all sides? PP: The same stations that said, “We will never play this music,” now, they have to play it! They have no choice. Eric took advantage of the freedom he had to fight the status quo of things. We did not have all these big urban stations back then that we have today that play Hip-Hop. They were very resistant against Rap, especially if it was Gangsta [Rap]. We always had […]

Crooked I is fighting for his life. After almost a decade of being promised to be on the horizon, Crooked I finds himself there still, at the top of 2005. Caught between a lawsuit with Death Row Records, Crooked is on the fringe of controlling his own destiny. He’s being especially proactive, and told AllHipHop.com all about where his head, heart, and time is. Big things are promised. Hear the story of a man who’s given it more tries than Master P’s basketball career. Unlike P, Crooked still may be very well ahead of his time. Feel the struggle of the rapper held back for too long. AllHipHop.com: How far along in the release process are you now with the DVD? Crooked I: Hey man, I’m editing right now. This my first DVD I’m puttin’ out. I didn’t know, that editing, man – that’s no joke. I’m thinking like March or April. AllHipHop.com: I can see an RBX being very specific about Death Row. But what’s Master P gonna say about Death Row or that experience he knows nothing about? Crooked I: Yeah, that’s the thing. It’s got several different aims. One is to document my times on Death Row, and [working] with Left Eye, just different things that I went through over there. But the DVD’s aim is also about transitions. It’s about people growing in the industry and giving their story. It’s about my transition – moving on from Death Row Records. It’s about Master P’s transition moving on from the streets to the corporate world. And he does touch on a few Death Row related issues since he signed Snoop Dogg and all that. I got Loon on there, when he left Bad Boy. I’m hoping that it’ll be inspirational to young cats coming up in the industry trying to grow. AllHipHop.com: One thing that I heard really blew me away. Carl ‘Butch’ Small, the longtime percussionist for all the Death Row great records helped you out recently. That dude is an unsung hero of Hip-Hop for his percussion, but also his charity. Can you tell us what happened? Crooked I: Big up’s for Butch. Butch really came through for me, man. There was a time where he just extended his hand as a homeboy, as a friend, and he came through [and paid some bills for me]. I’ve known Butch since before I was on Death Row. He had done percussion for my album on Noo-Trybe. AllHipHop.com: What’s your day-to-day life like now? Crooked I: My day-to-day is on the business side way more. I put as much energy into learning the business now, as I did as a young dude trying to learn to freestyle. My phones ring all day. Meetings meetings meetings. I love it though. I get to be my own boss. I think I’m gonna break in a new era on the West Coast as far as new kids in the game. I’m bossing up on both sides of the mic. AllHipHop.com: There seemed to be a popular perception that as you were building this label of other artists, because you had contract restrictions. What merit is there to that? Crooked I: I do have other artists, and the deal is going through Treacherous, which is distributed by Universal Music Group. But no, man. By no means am I putting myself in the background. I’m like WC and [DJ] Aladdin – Low Profile. I got a throw something out there for the people, no matter what. I’m trying to put together a project that you could put next to the classics. AllHipHop.com: Looking at Game’s breakout success, does ‘coulda been me’ enter your mind as you watch that unfold? Crooked I: I’m happy for Game, man. He’s been put in a position that, s**t, n****s would kill for in certain places. Game’s a young dude. Jimmy Iovine, a monster. Dr. Dre, enough said just saying his name. G-Unit, they got that cap on fire. The position that he’s in is a very blessed position. I’m very happy for him. That’s a good thing. I was never in a rush to be the first to bring back the West, or try to. That’s what a lot of MC’s talk about out here. My view of the West Coast being where it needs to be isn’t one person doing what they doing. At least three to four different camps, rollin’! When ‘Pac was alive, it wasn’t just 2Pac dominating the charts. It was ‘Pac, but E-40 and Sik-Wid-It Click was holding down the Bay. Snoop and The Dogg Pound had at least three or four different groups within that camp – Nate Dogg, Warren G, Dogg Pound, Snoop, Westside Connect. I think it’s gonna be a thing where we got a Murder Inc and a Ruff Ryders and a Roc-A-Fella all at once, when they were doing their thing. We really gotta unite with each other. When I say unite, I don’t mean do sixteen on my mixtape. I mean sit down at the roundtable and talk on how we can push this business-line together as well as make music together. AllHipHop.com: Girls all the time talk about ‘reclaiming their virginity.’ They regret who they slept with. As an artist, you’re proven – but you’re an album virgin. How does that feel? Crooked I: Man! That’s a reality that I gotta live with. And after you’ve been in the game as long as I have without putting out an album, – it does f**k with you, mentally. There’s ups and downs. The maturity is there. Honestly, there’s so many things missing in the Hip-Hop game. I think I can add different perspectives. Everything happens for a reason. I’m happy, man. AllHipHop.com: Some of your fan-base was attracted to you by way of your work with Sway and Tech, and the more underground artists you worked with. Death Row probably wouldn’t have had you collaborate with a Chino XL. Will you do that now, since […]

Full HeaderPrint “The Oprah Issue” By Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur Oprah Winfrey and Hip-Hop have peacefully co-existed for decades with little-to-no fanfare, but the inevitable happened – friction. The Oprah Winfrey Show debut in 1986, the same year Run DMC injected a heavy dose of Hip-Hop straight to America’s commercial vein with “Walk This Way.” Since, rappers have continuously gained acclaim and notoriety, in a timeline that’s runs concurrent with Oprah’s ascension. They have penetrated nearly every level of popular culture. However, Hip-Hop’s traction on America’s most popular and longest-running talk show has been quite limited considering the manner in which much of the world fawns over the culture. Oozing testosterone, Hip-Hop has maintained an ever-growing penchant for music of the misogynist sort, not unlike heavy metal of the ’80s and ’90s. Sexist, hateful lyrics towards women don’t encompass the full scope of the music, but it has been a point of contention for one Oprah Winfrey. Oprah, who turns 54 on January 29, 2007, has repeatedly insisted that she has no qualms with all Hip-Hop music, but loathes the sort that degrades women. No matter how the African American business woman states her case, Hip-Hop’s many enthusiasts, conformists and artists like Ludacris, Ice Cube and 50 Cent can’t seem to hear the logic in her words. Why the Hip-Hop community remains upset with the billionaire media mogul is baffling to Gayle King, Winfrey’s best friend and television personality in her own right. “I really question the backlash, because Oprah’s not trying to denigrate Hip-Hop, but she does make a valid point when she says the lyrics, calling women b###### and hoes, are not something she supports. She’s hasn’t painted Hip-Hop with one big brush,” King tells AllHipHop.com. “She’s just said that some of the lyrics have been problematic for her. That’s all she’s ever said. This has turned in to a big huge thing that isn’t true. What she’s against is lyrics that denigrate women and that’s not a surprise.” However, various Hip-Hop artists have taken issue with Oprah and her perceived opinion of the music. “I’m down here on the f**kin’ bottom. I’m never going to sit on [Oprah’s] f**kin’ couch. It’s never gonna happen,” Atlanta rapper Killer Mike laments. “If Cube couldn’t sit on there and Luda got attacked, what the f**k do I have to lose? Just tell the truth. She’s never going to decide she likes me, [wants] to help me sell some f**king records.” On October 6, 2005, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside cast members Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Thandie Newton and Terrence Howard to promote the thought-provoking movie Crash. He was taken aback when he found himself in a discussion about the N-word and raunchy rap lyrics, as opposed to conversation on the award-winning film about race relations. On the show, he appeared muted, but publicly stated later that his real responses were edited out of the televised version of The Oprah Winfrey Show. “Oprah is Oprah. She ain’t got to put n***as on the show if she don’t want to. Look at all the f***ed up s**t that we’re doing. If I was her, I’d only put John Legend and Kanye [West] on my show,” says The Game, a Compton-based, platinum selling artist. “We got stories, but there are other shows that can tell our stories. She’s made billions of dollars doing what she gotta do. I agree with.” These days, King and Winfrey both listen to Kanye West, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige and some 50 Cent and a few others within Hip-Hop’s diverse culture. “I listen to some Hip-Hop. I’ve been accused of not liking Hip-Hop and that’s just not true,” Oprah said last year on New York City radio station Power 105.1. “I got a little 50 [Cent] in my iPod. I really do. I like ‘In Da Club.’ Have you heard the beat to ‘In Da Club’? Love that, love Jay-Z, love Kanye, love Mary J. Mary J. is one of my friends.” Yet soon after, Ludacris openly condemned Oprah for her show’s editing tactics and angst towards rappers. Ice Cube came out against the media mogul as well. In the July 2006 issue of FHM, Cube said, “She’s had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I’m not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?” But, does Oprah Winfrey owe anything to the Hip-Hop community? “I have a problem with the fact that she has her audience and doesn’t show the love to Hip-Hop that much,” Nas says from Def Jam’s offices, but also acknowledges that Oprah supporters have a point. “All respect to Luda, but how could she put him on the show if he’s singing ‘Move b***h get out the way,’ [and] ‘I got hoes in different area codes?’ I don’t understand that. But then Luda has a point too, he’s got something to say. Ice Cube has something to say.” Oprah’s supporters, regardless of the color, have asserted that the musical history of these rappers automatically causes friction. Both Cube and Ludacris have evolved into more mature individuals in their cinematic and civic accomplishments. Cube has starred in a number of popular, mainstream family films, while Luda regularly commits his time and money to charitable causes. Both artists have a duality wrought in negativity. Ice Cube, now a married family man, dubbed himself “the b***h killa” in the early ’90s, and used the derogatory term to describe the women he encountered in South Central Los Angeles. Luda’s lyrics have generally been more playful even if the content indulges in the sexually explicit. Both, topics are areas of discomfort for “O.” Oprah Winfrey is worth an estimated $1.5 billion and has gone forward to conquer nearly every frontier possible for a person in televised entertainment. Her show is transmitted in over 130 countries; she has the number one talk show in history, and is beloved by an estimated 26 million people who watch her show […]