If Dame Dash is the
George Steinbrenner of hip-hop—acquiring star rappers (N.O.R.E., Twista)
from other labels just as the Yankees owner acquires star players (A-Rod, Gary
Sheffield) from other rosters—perhaps Peedi Crakk is his Derek Jeter, a
homegrown talent who can lead a team of transient All-Stars through its next era
of success.
Just don’t
expect the duo to film a Visa Credit Card commercial anytime soon.
“No disrespect to Dame and them,” Crakk told AllHipHop.com of working
with Dash. “‘Cause it’s not they fault, ‘cause the level
that they at, they not around what I’m around, and they not hearing what
I hear or see what I see. They older, they not in the mix no more, you know
what I mean? So how you gonna’ pick a song for the ‘hood, the young people?”
The Roc-A-Fella
CEO, however, didn’t quite agree, according to Crakk.
“I got in
an argument with Dame one time,” he recalled. “And he was like,
‘Yo, who you think picked out all them joints for Jay-Z? Who you think
got all them platinum plaques?’”
One thing Dash
and the Philly upstart do agree on, though, is the buzz behind Peedi Crakk’s
debut album. The Boss even took it upon himself to move the State Property affiliate
into his New York home to ensure his hands on involvement with the project.
So far Crakk has
penned verses to Nicole Wray’s “If I Was Your Girlfriend”
and “N****Rican” with N.O.R.E.
In fact, Crakk
revealed he’s been working on a lot of material recently with N.O.R.E.,
but their collaboration wasn’t the first time they’ve linked up.
The rappers actually met before in Philadelphia years ago.
“When I was
younger, I probably was like 18 or 19 and I seen him down at a record store
here in Philly. It was when N.O.R.E. was young as s***, a little skinny n****.”
Crakk said. “He don’t believe me to this day. I be telling him this
story. And that n**** gave me an autograph. I still got the autograph. I made
him sign my CD, because I was going down there to buy his CD.
“I still
got it. He signed it for me—he signed it to Pedro the Gigolo. That was
my little rap name back then,” Crackk said as he laughed at the memory.
One thing that’s
not funny for Peedi is the gun charge he’s been battling in Philadelphia.
The case threatened to derail his career as the rapper went in and out of jail
while State Property gained notoriety, releasing movies and albums.
But Crakk has used
the extra time to fine-tune his as-yet-titled album.
“I don’t
just want an album to put out an album,” he said. “I want everybody
to remember this one. I got so many different sides to me, like my personality.
So I be trying to get different aspects of me on there, but it’s taking
me a little time. A little longer than I thought.”