(AllHipHop News Feature) Compton rapper and songwriter Problem spoke with AllHipHop.com yesterday (September 24) about his recent ascension to the forefront of Hip-Hop on the West Coast, after what fans would call an impressive weekend performance in Hollywood.
While Problem is still building his buzz nationwide, he is well known in the West, as he got his start co-producing and writing songs for West Coast legends such as Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and DJ Quik among others.
Currently, Problem is signed to the independent label Diamond Lane Music Group, which also houses Bad Lucc and the nine-member production team called the League of Stars. League of Stars also produced Tyga’s “Faded,” now a certified RIAA Platinum record. Problem wrote the hook and also has a verse on E-40’s popular song, “Function.”
Problem’s concert was held at the jam-packed Key Club, where he performed songs from his critically acclaimed Mollywood 2 mixtape, and brought out Bad Lucc, other members of the Diamond Lane Music Group, and local performers from Compton and South Central, Los Angeles.
The show was at capacity, and by 10PM, the venue would not allow more people to enter the premises.
“Right now, the streets are really f*cking with me, and we put in a lot of groundwork, so it’s great to see the response,” Problem told AllHipHop.com in an exclusive interview. “It was about 100-200 people that were trying get in after we were filled up; it was a really diverse crowd, and I wasn’t expecting that many people. To do the Key Club in April and now five months later to get this response, it’s just crazy.”
Back in April of this year, Problem held a concert at the Key Club and brought out Kurupt and Warren G. When asked about how he came up with the concept of “Mollywood” and the movement that has followed, Problem described the Mollywood movement as “perfect timing.”
“Well, I mean the whole ‘Molly’ thing, I didn’t expect it to become this craze. I guess it was just the time when I dropped it, but it was something that I was really f*ckin’ with for like over a year before the actual first project came out. And it was something that we used to say all the time when I was getting ready to pop one. I would say, ‘I’m going to Mollywood.’
“So the timing on everything was perfect. We dropped it, the first one did real well. I wanted to do a theme with it again, and we built some anticipation with it,” Problem said. “For it to spread this fast – we got songs that already went on the radio, and I got like four in the club. I’m gonna continue the Mollywood series, this will be my spring and summer project, but there will be a third project in the Mollywood series.”
While the next project is not likely to be released until Spring or Summer 2013, Problem noted that he would drop work in the interim, along with his longtime friend and labelmate, Badd Lucc.
“Right now, we finishing up Badd Lucc’s album. When he drops, it’s one thing, we a team. We got Lucc’s project dropping; we got a group project dropping, I’m doing a tape with a DJ, but I’m not saying any names yet. Just know it’s going to be a major announcement; there will definitely be another project coming out before the year ends, hopefully two.”
When asked about how his relationship with Bad Lucc developed, Problem explained the first time he ever met Bad Lucc:
“First time I seen Lucc, I wasn’t really into rap like that. I was at a battle thing, and Damani was performing at the break, and he stopped and said he had someone that would ‘Eat anyone up.’ It was Bad Lucc, and he come out and he rapped for two minutes straight – no beat and he shut everybody up. It was the craziest thing I ever heard.
“Then a year later, someone invited me to the studio and he was there, and we just clicked and talked, and we became friends over the years. Then he got in with Snoop and then I got in with Snoop, and we just always kind of tried to stay connected. Then I had the Diamond Lane opportunity, so I thought I needed a running mate, and who perfect but my boy? Ain’t nobody f*ckin’ with him lyrically. We like the terrible twos or something.”
While his label is doing well and has received offers from major labels looking to handle distribution, Problem says he is happy with where is currently situated.
“No slashed on us, we are majorly independent. I feel like we are in a good situation; we got our city talking about us and that’s a start, but we got a long way to go, though. We want to be compared to like the G.O.O.D. Music or the Cash Moneys of the world. Diamond Lane Music Group works so hard for us, and that’s not really my department, but I’ve heard some things, and we aren’t slowing down for anything. All money ain’t good money. I would take a great situation over cash any day.”
Problem said he is currently determining what video he will shoot next from the Mollywood project, but he said that “Like Whaaat” featuring Bad Lucc may be the next video. In addition, Problem recently hit the studio with Wiz Khalifa, recording for several days in a row, so he has lots of music for the fans coming out soon.
Check out some footage and additional flicks from Problem’s show at the Key Club in Hollywood or, as he likes to call it, “Mollywood”, below:
