tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39229631199447967952024-03-13T15:11:46.529-07:00Rap Research ArchiveAdminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comBlogger344125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-81421159841211509632012-01-15T10:43:00.000-08:002012-01-15T10:45:44.187-08:00KRS interview January 2012The Blastmaster builds on the last BDP album,<br />Sex and Violence (1992) which he states was “a flop”<br />(only moving 250,000 units,<br />in contrast to 1990’s Edutainment which moved 600,000 units), <br />the possibility of the P.M. Dawn beef slowing down his sales,<br />and the events that eventually led up to<br />his highly-celebrated solo debut,<br />Return of the Boom Bap.<br /><br /><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/erwJzZxaWXs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-29524353912820023212011-11-29T02:48:00.000-08:002011-11-29T02:52:45.398-08:00Big Mike (Convicts/Geto Boys) VS Rap-A-LotFrom the Ashes: Former Geto Boy Big Mike<br />Former Geto Boy Big Mike attempts to set the record straight about his arson conviction.<br />By Ben Westhoff Wednesday, Mar 3 2010<br /><br />In 2004, Michael Barnett was paroled and released from prison. The rapper known as Big Mike had served three and a half years for torching a studio affiliated with Rap-A-Lot Records.<br /> <br />Serious business: Big Mike's 1997 LP was a critical and commercial success, but led to big problems between the rapper and his label.<br /><br /><br />That offense was the culmination of simmering tensions between Mike and the venerable Houston label, on which he'd released well-received solo projects and albums with Convicts and Geto Boys. By 1997 his star had risen so high that, according to Mike, Rap-A-Lot wanted to lock him down under a long-term contract.<br /><br />The label attempted to make him an offer he couldn't refuse, and that's when the trouble started.<br /><br />Now 37 and in a new phase of his career, Mike has decided to tell his side of the story publicly for the first time. Many of his fans know about the arson, but they assume it was the result of a mental condition or drug addiction. This is untrue, he says, and he wants to set the record straight.<br /><br />"The only way to destroy those lies," he goes on, "is to tell the truth."<br /><br />As girthy as his name implies, Mike wears an angular beard and his arms are tatted-up. He is extremely forthcoming and humble during a conversation at his apartment near Reliant Center, where he stays when he's in town. After getting into trouble as a kid in New Orleans, he moved to Houston to live with his grandparents and nowadays moves back and forth between the two cities.<br /><br />This probably has something to do with why his music doesn't sound stereotypical of either region. The energy and up-tempo pacing on albums like his 1994 classic Somethin' Serious has a New Orleans flavor, while his lyrics are full of slang from Houston and other parts of the South. According to Mike, he taught Snoop Dogg phrases like "I don't love dem hoes" while they shared an apartment during their Death Row Records days.<br /><br />Mike's short-lived deal with the Los Angeles label came about because Dr. Dre was a fan of Convicts, the duo consisting of Mike and Houston rapper Mr. 3-2. But as Death Row co-founder Suge Knight dragged his feet on their project, Mike began to consider his options.<br /><br />A Rap-A-Lot representative told him that Willie D was leaving Geto Boys, and invited him to fill the spot. And so Mike returned to Houston and contributed to the group's 1993 LP Till Death Do Us Part. Though it was a strong album and eventually went gold, at the time it was seen as something of a failure, coming on the heels of the group's commercial and critical pinnacle, We Can't Be Stopped.<br /><br />Mike was booted from the group shortly after he and Scarface had a physical altercation of some sort. Mike suggests 'Face was jealous over Mike's increasing fame. But Mike now had a platform to launch his solo career, and his first two Rap-A-Lot albums, Somethin' Serious and Still Serious, cracked Billboard's Top 40. The latter, released in 1997, peaked at No. 16 and demonstrated his commercial viability.<br /><br />Around this time, Mike says, he attempted to collect some money he was owed by Rap-A-Lot. He called up founder J. Prince, who said sure, he could have his money, but he always wanted him to sign a new record contract.<br /><br />This was news to Mike. His old contract hadn't expired, and besides, other labels were expressing interest in his services. Unsure what to do, he balked.<br /><br />Apparently this didn't go over too well with Prince. Mike remembers their call being put on speakerphone, with someone lurking on Prince's end of the line barking threats. "Do you know who you're talking to?" Mike recalls the man saying. "Something could happen to you!"<br /><br />Mike tried to put the conversation out of his mind. That night he fell asleep like normal in his house in a new Missouri City subdivision. But in the middle of the night, as he lay next to his pregnant girlfriend, something woke him.<br /><br />"Did you just tell me to get up?" he asked his lady. She said she hadn't, so he lay back down, but sleep wouldn't return. Something felt eerie.<br /><br />He walked into the living room and sat down. After pausing for a moment, he lit a cigarette and began a conversation with his maker. "Lord, I feel like somebody's plotting against me," he prayed. "Please watch over me. Don't let nothing happen to me."<br /><br />Mike made the sign of the cross and leaned over to ash his cigarette. At that very moment, shots rang out and he heard the sound of glass smashing. A bullet penetrated the wall behind him, right where his head had been a moment earlier.<br /><br />He hustled out of the room, avoiding the bullets and injury. His girlfriend was okay too, thankfully, as were his children — who, against their routine, happened to be with their mother that weekend.<br /><br />It was divine intervention, Mike thought. Today, he doesn't come out and directly accuse Prince or anyone at Rap-A-Lot of orchestrating the shooting.<br /><br />"Draw your own conclusions,"he says. (Calls requesting comment from the label for this story were not returned.)<br /><br />Still, he felt what he felt, and in the coming days did a lot of thinking. He didn't go to the police, he says, because as a "street dude" that violated his code of ethics. Though initially he intended to turn the other cheek, an encounter at a local club with a Rap-A-Lot security guard made him change his mind.<br /><br />Unprovoked, Mike says, the man threw a drink at him, and so he threw a couple of his own right back. "These people don't understand nothing else but guerrilla tactics," he remembers thinking, growing angry. "All of that took me away from being 'Big Mike.' It was just 'Mike' again."<br /><br />Shortly thereafter, he made the decision that would dramatically alter the course of his life. He attempted to burn down a studio used by Rap-A-Lot, as well as the imprint's headquarters.<br /> <br />Mike won't go into details about the evening, but was quickly pinched for the studio fire. He served time in various spots around West Texas, and was released a little more than halfway through his six-year sentence.<br /><br />"It's hard to think about it now, because I lost so much off that one event," he says. "Time off my life, time with my children. My career suffered a blow from it."<br /><br />When he returned home, Mike found that his name had been slandered. There were rumors that he had lost his mind, and that he was abusing substances. Neither was true, he contends, and adds that he has finally gone public with his story to clear the air.<br /><br />"The alternative version is already out there," he says. "People ask, 'What happened to Big Mike?' 'Oh, he tried to burn down a building. I think he went off his rocker!'"<br /><br />He also wants the public to know that Big Mike the rapper is back, and he's as serious about his music as he's ever been. Indeed, his latest mixtape, Ridah Music, Vol. 1, features his vintage carefully crafted, hard-hitting sound. It has guest spots from Rick Ross and Chamillionaire, and Mike has also been working with a roster of up-and-coming and established MCs for his own Ridah Music label. He's currently bearing down in the studio, and promises a full-length release this year.<br /><br />Insisting that he's not bitter, he maintains that his faith in God has helped him accept — and even feel grateful for — the hand he was dealt.<br /><br />"To the average person, it may feel like they won, that they were able to stomp on my name and throw dirt on it," he says. "But I know that it don't stop there. I'll always have another opportunity. Even though [these events] changed me as a person, I'm enjoying the person I am right now."<br /><br /><br />VIA<br />http://www.houstonpress.com/2010-03-04/music/from-the-ashes/Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-71914840595380493972011-06-07T20:11:00.000-07:002011-06-07T20:17:15.241-07:00Laylaw Discusses His History With Dr. Dre, 2Pac, Ghost-Producing "California Love (Remix)"-The veteran west coast consigliore tells DX<br />about Dr. Dre's early days,<br />his upcoming box set audio-biography<br />and says "Fuck Jerry Heller."<br /><br />-“I been knowing Dre since like ’80, ’81,” recalled Laylaw recently to HipHopDX of the two future producer’s initial South Central connection. “I stayed down the street from his cousin, on 76th Street, right across the street from Fremont [High School]. I played football for Fremont… and [Dre] would dance at halftime with some other brothers, some pop-locker dudes.<br /><br />-Fast forward a few years to the mid-‘80s and the Fremont alums had cut their first record together: the Dracula-inspired “Monster Rapping.”<br /><br />-Laylaw’s short-lived career as an artist continued the following year with “What’s Your Name,” and Electro-driven dance cut produced by “The Mechanic,” which was an alias Dr. Dre adopted at the time to avoid any conflict with his deal with Epic Records, as part of The World Class Wreckin’ Cru, while working with ‘Law. <br /><br /><br />-“It was both of ‘em,” replied Laylaw. “I don’t kiss nobody ass, man. I mean, Eazy was cool as fuck. I loved Eazy. I miss Eazy. But then when Eazy got schooled by Jerry [Heller] … All of the sudden I gotta talk to Jerry about shit I’ve never talked to Jerry about? Fuck Jerry, man. I’m not talking to Jerry about nothing. You couldn’t get me to respect Jerry. That was the problem. [I was like], ‘How you gonna just throw this muthafucka in the mix, Eazy? You used to buy dope from me muthafucka. I used to give you dope on consignment. Now you got me talking to this white fool about this bullshit?’”<br /><br /><br />-“So I’m like, ‘Alright, what’chu gonna do with my version? ‘Cause we have two versions of the song,’” he continued. “[Dre] said, ‘Your version’s the remix.’ I did it with my partner at the time, [D’Maq]. … [Dr. Dre] told me that he sent the credits into Suge [Knight] and Suge fucked it up. I called Suge. Suge said, ‘Dre never gave me the credits, ‘Law.’ … Mind you, Suge ain’t really worrying about putting my name on shit. So I get in touch with Tupac, and ‘Pac telling me he trying to leave [Death Row Records], he just wanna finish these extra albums and he wanna leave. So, we just kicked back and just let [the situation] marinate.”<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.15440/title.laylaw-discusses-his-history-with-dr-dre-2pac-ghost-producing-california-love-remix?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hiphopdx%2Fnews+%28HipHopDX.com%29">Read the whole thing over at HipHopDX</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-81857320147108192952011-05-29T09:32:00.000-07:002011-06-07T20:10:46.200-07:00Jerry B. Long aka Kokane The Most Featured Artist In The World Pt. 1 & 2 Documentary<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/36l8ukdgKcM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/RyMqvV2y-h0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-43687715404499174392011-04-02T09:20:00.000-07:002011-04-02T09:24:28.127-07:00Q&A: Blake Lethem, a/k/a KEO X-MEN, a/k/a Lord Scotch, a/k/a Scotch 79 (Original White Rapper)Read interview over<br />@ <a href="http://www.egotripland.com/qa-blake-lethem-aka-keo-x-men-graf-legend-original-white-rapper/">EgoTripLand</a><br /><br />MC <a href="http://www.egotripland.com/qa-blake-lethem-aka-keo-x-men-graf-legend-original-white-rapper/comment-page-1/#comment-6966">Serch<br />drops a comment</a> as well.<br />Great read.Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-48242172369659225032011-03-26T15:19:00.000-07:002011-03-26T15:26:39.418-07:00N.W.A interview Spin Magazine 1991<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4MfluT_7U2LOC5kd1B0xQC_TuxaWxt7YF6G8WlvUKzljQG8uNyIlZQXnW1In1ZsLFFq4NLWjnUozil3KJ44LH6v9nI4RsunVcrR8Z3NUjsPmkacGxQBW3DOJFaga1Py-q5IUbq98Mgg/s1600/1nwaspinmagazine.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 328px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4MfluT_7U2LOC5kd1B0xQC_TuxaWxt7YF6G8WlvUKzljQG8uNyIlZQXnW1In1ZsLFFq4NLWjnUozil3KJ44LH6v9nI4RsunVcrR8Z3NUjsPmkacGxQBW3DOJFaga1Py-q5IUbq98Mgg/s400/1nwaspinmagazine.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588518457041809714" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-OxJb22ElEYd_UmLrVlA271UW5nXAIStiayMDS2g1w81-Kc-ELsYAuMapHHBCOiUBwUHe7fjM3esLK3NQAgnABy_35tw2xg69dFJh2-la1sffmwzRzkJ31ORvqAFyq72yRahU2HH3OM/s1600/2nwaspinmagazine2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 341px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS-OxJb22ElEYd_UmLrVlA271UW5nXAIStiayMDS2g1w81-Kc-ELsYAuMapHHBCOiUBwUHe7fjM3esLK3NQAgnABy_35tw2xg69dFJh2-la1sffmwzRzkJ31ORvqAFyq72yRahU2HH3OM/s400/2nwaspinmagazine2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588518293450000866" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi1bH4e402yD7-7rao5QMuHvK-PQdqRUPP7yQNAVkT6fIDZnllF5VvZlcJQb2_40aMLcO5F_AYgkvVjspMnVio1d6zUMouChYofF93aEjZoH74fJU8Vt8LByRfd-OdxitthaHXftbn_Y/s1600/3nwaspinmagazine3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 329px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLi1bH4e402yD7-7rao5QMuHvK-PQdqRUPP7yQNAVkT6fIDZnllF5VvZlcJQb2_40aMLcO5F_AYgkvVjspMnVio1d6zUMouChYofF93aEjZoH74fJU8Vt8LByRfd-OdxitthaHXftbn_Y/s400/3nwaspinmagazine3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588517855576543650" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4InGKxgI5UL4zj5zNUY-5N5D3e0EAT19i6U-gugjgSrm4sBsbAWNL10dzFlNsGb48AZOkwf4MdgyCfGQgyd9wFBytojzUJ8HoC1Q1JaeTqaLbdhPoc4ex3jwdqtGVwriZa4cJ6vQM4io/s1600/4nwaspinmagazine4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 349px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4InGKxgI5UL4zj5zNUY-5N5D3e0EAT19i6U-gugjgSrm4sBsbAWNL10dzFlNsGb48AZOkwf4MdgyCfGQgyd9wFBytojzUJ8HoC1Q1JaeTqaLbdhPoc4ex3jwdqtGVwriZa4cJ6vQM4io/s400/4nwaspinmagazine4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588517666376805986" /></a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-44774285471645995582011-03-26T15:14:00.000-07:002011-03-26T15:19:14.550-07:00Eazy-E interview in Vibe magazine<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMhZUifCLZHovPEQX7oTbFhW7xaYdQmavZeGuYEU-0YhgylIfRSzwjDIVTkofZN8Q4mb1-XhfDyDVaqJUsn9IryTxxbyRNFzN4Z_xUITNYlIVrdvs6cAUXH0kua92PamKvCluHoSOsUg/s1600/a1eazyevibemagazine4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 331px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMhZUifCLZHovPEQX7oTbFhW7xaYdQmavZeGuYEU-0YhgylIfRSzwjDIVTkofZN8Q4mb1-XhfDyDVaqJUsn9IryTxxbyRNFzN4Z_xUITNYlIVrdvs6cAUXH0kua92PamKvCluHoSOsUg/s400/a1eazyevibemagazine4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588516423299771010" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00hA966510-jTv3NRHtyv2uq1xrkrFHb6MXTB1SxaJPbM_537HcGcqzJu98TYlRqU8QvNT6I-9jDRiyiprKKSUR1ElQpTASE9ULRqgKveUlqm4dTq45zZvrjuD20N2uS6atBJa5GUKZk/s1600/a2eazyevibemagazine6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 323px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00hA966510-jTv3NRHtyv2uq1xrkrFHb6MXTB1SxaJPbM_537HcGcqzJu98TYlRqU8QvNT6I-9jDRiyiprKKSUR1ElQpTASE9ULRqgKveUlqm4dTq45zZvrjuD20N2uS6atBJa5GUKZk/s400/a2eazyevibemagazine6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588516141166662946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSirlE1X_yOL4EPcTtdgz5N3P9IoMDi6jIp2qkCR1bTUvvmZiZDN3NEIRRRVhF8_bHxkPE8CEd8NWB8Nn29Abs1aIQtGsdlsQ2xx9VGleBSUlAAk3EOvYZSDGOOjQ9sVcKNirI9jBs50/s1600/a3eazyevibemagazine5.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKSirlE1X_yOL4EPcTtdgz5N3P9IoMDi6jIp2qkCR1bTUvvmZiZDN3NEIRRRVhF8_bHxkPE8CEd8NWB8Nn29Abs1aIQtGsdlsQ2xx9VGleBSUlAAk3EOvYZSDGOOjQ9sVcKNirI9jBs50/s400/a3eazyevibemagazine5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588515943884265554" /></a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-48355038656229495912011-03-26T12:41:00.001-07:002011-03-26T12:48:15.088-07:00who was "Sergeant Kick Ass"? (Mike "Crazy Neck" Sims)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrucPYxVg7EAHywL5qQyNgkP-MJD7B3NoRHQslvfP_8wH6B9VGgEOOJX2qA4EXnZVKPbm4ayQdtDqcDAiagHOZXcRZhHCOMWpVuqf3ZAx-8r4DwLTZ6tCOVX3MPCNdLhSF81rYOP2j7s/s1600/mike+sims+130320115320.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjrucPYxVg7EAHywL5qQyNgkP-MJD7B3NoRHQslvfP_8wH6B9VGgEOOJX2qA4EXnZVKPbm4ayQdtDqcDAiagHOZXcRZhHCOMWpVuqf3ZAx-8r4DwLTZ6tCOVX3MPCNdLhSF81rYOP2j7s/s400/mike+sims+130320115320.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588476957407073666" /></a><br />^click image to enlarge^<br /><br />Source;<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ego-Trips-Book-Rap-Lists/dp/0312242980/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301168788&sr=8-1">Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists by<br />Sacha Jenkins, Elliott Wilson, Jeff Mao and Gabe Alvarez</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-34735195748332494072011-03-26T12:32:00.000-07:002011-03-26T12:38:06.392-07:00Yo! magazine interview with The D.O.C 1990<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPd1s5DhtlVvtnXTRB7HB1-hJHueInV9fRAQmvcaDK-VsUgKZnaOeMo_U2gVNKHbMovW2mX8F682hasZ0GRSlbft3b_hjjEZ5zYihlzh29s20sdnF_Y8veTndzqzDkCLkn2HlP3DTiLAM/s1600/doc+1210320115336.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 287px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPd1s5DhtlVvtnXTRB7HB1-hJHueInV9fRAQmvcaDK-VsUgKZnaOeMo_U2gVNKHbMovW2mX8F682hasZ0GRSlbft3b_hjjEZ5zYihlzh29s20sdnF_Y8veTndzqzDkCLkn2HlP3DTiLAM/s400/doc+1210320115336.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588474972636246738" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZg8jPsYb0cEeT-x5LORBVN4zt2S9ixLAnWetsonISxkQUoJLohOZ8m7WssJnTyoJteaCdKJoaUpzElYxIlfIqCdpRvt4_6oXWOL5t4tjZ0Pu799Fu7o9Swi4AGdxchWpEvLpSb_ELxI/s1600/doc+2210320115337.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 303px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWZg8jPsYb0cEeT-x5LORBVN4zt2S9ixLAnWetsonISxkQUoJLohOZ8m7WssJnTyoJteaCdKJoaUpzElYxIlfIqCdpRvt4_6oXWOL5t4tjZ0Pu799Fu7o9Swi4AGdxchWpEvLpSb_ELxI/s400/doc+2210320115337.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588474722411461346" /></a><br />^click images to enlarge^Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-66068000929748514552011-03-26T12:25:00.000-07:002011-03-26T12:32:12.315-07:00"Microphone Mafia"Bobcat;<br />....I had a crew called Microphone Mafia<br />and on a lot of 2Pac records<br />(and on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3SiauVdT_I">Coming after you by N.W.A/Ice Cube & MC Ren</a>)<br />I say at the end<br />"Microphone Mafia", and so it was a clique record for us.<br />K-Born, Threat, Nefertiti they was all on that<br />record and nobody had really wanted to sign them at the time,<br />and me and Pooh was trying to kick doors down trying<br />to get people to hear a new kind of West Coast<br />thing and they didn't want to hear it.<br /><br />VIA<br /><a href="http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip-hop-engineering-production/588710-how-did-some-cats-la-end-up-producing-ll-cool-js-1987-b-d-album.html">GearSlutz</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-9428935343920572262011-03-25T08:00:00.000-07:002011-03-25T08:01:49.863-07:00Dr.Dre speaks in Helter Skelter & N.W.A reunion with Fab 5 Freddy in 1992<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cDmDEnok6sw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-26140136332291910342011-03-06T10:22:00.001-08:002011-03-06T14:07:04.400-08:00Raptalk.Net: How did some cats from LA end up producing LL Cool J's 1987 "B.A.D" album?<span style="font-weight:bold;">We all know about Ice Cube hooking up with<br />East Coast producers (The Bomb Squad)<br />to help make his 1990s "Amerikkkas Most Wanted"...<br />but what you don't hear about is years before that<br />LL hooked up with some West Coast producers<br />(L.A. Posse) to help make<br />his classic "B.A.D" album in the 80's.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUPDaqG897gta7TThSjg6Drcysdm4PQ0WhY53KHy-CGJVAHz_NrVpQltc4ec_CxwnKjSXSto3amTdrkkRKiPsNQKGAmYx0NF6Gvf5xqt-TwEkkFw-zjD3XVNmpEubPl_nUGNBfYkKJrqv/s1600/1+BAD+album+cover.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZUPDaqG897gta7TThSjg6Drcysdm4PQ0WhY53KHy-CGJVAHz_NrVpQltc4ec_CxwnKjSXSto3amTdrkkRKiPsNQKGAmYx0NF6Gvf5xqt-TwEkkFw-zjD3XVNmpEubPl_nUGNBfYkKJrqv/s400/1+BAD+album+cover.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581015879021870770" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">DJ Bobcat talks about how he went to<br />New York to win a DJ battle in 1987<br />but ended up helping produce<br />LL Cool J's classic B.A.D. album<br />and also how he was the one who produced<br />"Mama Said Knock You Out" not Marley Marl.</span><br /><br />by <a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Tim Sanchez (Styles)</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2EcLdxR2jzqwYllJ4_zQ-H6RPMooCPzlGXrnLyusl3gJ6tft8bxM5PvRXHLw9RzqXolq2FSCNnIFGOwr20M9vEVPsDAFBxra3XO2j0EGpraHqj9vnDioBhuyoZcxynIsCUcZFPH2jQIJ/s1600/2+DJ+Bobcat.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 380px; height: 271px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2EcLdxR2jzqwYllJ4_zQ-H6RPMooCPzlGXrnLyusl3gJ6tft8bxM5PvRXHLw9RzqXolq2FSCNnIFGOwr20M9vEVPsDAFBxra3XO2j0EGpraHqj9vnDioBhuyoZcxynIsCUcZFPH2jQIJ/s400/2+DJ+Bobcat.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581016256748940290" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles:<br />How did you get a Production deal with Def Jam?</a><br /><br />Bobcat:<br />Styles, I am glad you asked that question.<br />Because this is what I like for kids<br />to understand and a lot of people to understand.<br />You've got to be patient.<br />You've got to be patient.<br />Like Will Smith in that new movie "Happyness".<br />That guy was patient, you know what I mean?<br />Be persistent and patient.<br />It was some years before I got with Def Jam.<br />I DJ'd all over the place, you know,<br />at the time I was Southern California's #1 DJ.<br />I put together the California Cat Crew<br />and put Battlecat, Wildcat,<br />and a bunch of other Cats on.<br />So I had a DJ Network started already.<br />I had that kind of local success when<br />Darryl Pierce and Dwayne Simon of L.A. Posse called me,<br />they was in New York already because<br />we had known Russell Simmons from us breaking<br />their music at our Uncle Jamm's Army party's,<br />so they was out there doing<br />pre-production for a rapper named Breeze. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles:<br />I remember him… MC Breeze.</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFocid02bY5f5aRAmPpdF5cihqoHR4o9F1CQKc9Iz7pLpakC3Ce_eehX34U-DsaGh3kAW2wKU_TDpBgWbqhRWaFricmg6NjFVT6zyl9gfXw3GLxwweKDjiLbLsAIPeSL76Re3qVTAyCsve/s1600/3+Breeze.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFocid02bY5f5aRAmPpdF5cihqoHR4o9F1CQKc9Iz7pLpakC3Ce_eehX34U-DsaGh3kAW2wKU_TDpBgWbqhRWaFricmg6NjFVT6zyl9gfXw3GLxwweKDjiLbLsAIPeSL76Re3qVTAyCsve/s400/3+Breeze.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581017187129046562" /></a><br /><br />Bobcat:<br />Breeze was dope! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles:<br />He did the L.A. Posse song, right?</a><br /><br />Bobcat:<br />Yes sir, yes sir.<br />So they (Darryl & Dwayne) was out there,<br />and Russell signed Breeze.<br />They were working on a project and they<br />called me up because they were having a DJ battle.<br />They were like<br />"Bob, you will smoke everybody out here"<br />because West Coast DJ's were always ahead of<br />East Coast DJ's especially at that time.<br />We still are!! (laughs).<br />So they were like<br />"Bob, you will come out here and kill them", <br />so I was like<br />"I don't have no money to come out there".<br />So I had to DJ over-time and I was working at this<br />place that was kind of like Wal-Mart at that time,<br />so I started working over-time there and was<br />just saving my money just hustling and doing whatever<br />I could to get my plane ticket, my round trip ticket.<br />So I ended up getting the money together<br />and I flew out there, Roger Clayton didn't<br />have any money so I ended up paying<br />half of his ticket.<br />Paying his way out there meant<br />that I didn't have a way back.<br />But I knew I was going to go out<br />there and win the DJ contest.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-79mz0UGN0Zs_b3y8qN2NrmtrnUekQuY9W7m9-PdPXWBM4HSqAacehu25C5H9EcNr_O17tZ8aRvrVtm0rZ6BK5Ay0M0U7MlQ8DyEZjSbews4qC52oxq0Lr9FrfG8WNyl_XM8GchqQl_g/s1600/4+turntables.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-79mz0UGN0Zs_b3y8qN2NrmtrnUekQuY9W7m9-PdPXWBM4HSqAacehu25C5H9EcNr_O17tZ8aRvrVtm0rZ6BK5Ay0M0U7MlQ8DyEZjSbews4qC52oxq0Lr9FrfG8WNyl_XM8GchqQl_g/s400/4+turntables.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581018249117946146" /></a><br /><br />When I got there, I was a day late and a dollar short. They had already started the first round and wouldn't let me do nothing. I was like "Can I at least guest-spin so they can see?" and they wouldn't let me do nothing. Man, time stopped that day. I didn't know what I was going to do because I had no way of getting back home. It wasn't like now where you can pay-pal plus people in my family didn't have money or at least that kind of money where they could just fly me back home. So anyway, I just hung out in New York with no where to go, no where to sleep, I was out there for like 2 months! Just hanging out with them not knowing what I was going to do with my career or my life. So they was working on Breeze's record and I was like "Can I help?". They was like "No, you've got to ask Russell. You can't just start working on a record". So one day they went to the Hamburger stand down the street of the studio and I told the Engineer "Listen, let me put something on the record". He was like "No, I can't do that". I was like "Look, I know you can erase it if they don't like it. Let me put this on the record." When they was gone, he allowed me to put some stuff down and when they came back they started going bananas over it. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: What did you record?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: You know what? Back then they weren't using drum machines or anything like that. They were using something called a Bell, it was like a little sampling thing. You had to kind of go through the engineer to do something like that. It wasn't like we had SP's or MP's or any of that. So I did it with the turntables because remember I used to do mixtapes and stuff.I started putting all of this stuff on the record, and this is all pioneering, see what I'm telling you now is stuff that wasn't really happening until I started doing it. Like looping records, you know like "Shaft", like on LL's thing. I did a bunch of stuff like that and they went crazy. They called Russell up and let him hear it over the phone. Russell is like "Yo! That's crazy! Tell Bobcat that he's down". So I was down with the team, but I wasn't getting paid.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdUFj-0hYnOnFAfMr5NLqx6J25EGUzl-x9HcywkNfkUNrOfvDNImCVIomOXIpqtZEhLGhhh5ud8-P2-orfDZoqi3dHesJBaRpVa9RL2qyqNYWxzr37d0Pb705HxwVXfxAchhzOSOrcvohc/s1600/5+Russell+Simmons.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdUFj-0hYnOnFAfMr5NLqx6J25EGUzl-x9HcywkNfkUNrOfvDNImCVIomOXIpqtZEhLGhhh5ud8-P2-orfDZoqi3dHesJBaRpVa9RL2qyqNYWxzr37d0Pb705HxwVXfxAchhzOSOrcvohc/s400/5+Russell+Simmons.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581018618331032386" /></a><br /><br />I was like that dude in Will Smith's movie "Happyness" working as an Intern so to speak just being patient. Well Styles, more months went by. I am hungry… (pauses)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Yeah, I mean you have to survive somehow…. </a><br /><br />Bobcat: I just kept on working and working and working. We made a gang of records. Dope records! We made like 2 or 3 albums at the time.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: And this was just with Breeze, right?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: Just with Breeze! And also, because we were like staff producers at the time so we were working on Alyson Williams and other R & B projects. I don't know if you know this, but I brought Nikki D over to Def Jam! She was the first female rapper to get signed to Def Jam.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDSN6X0rrsIPxjLTDbwRx_4PTfISMBug6quZoCsJSsb5GfndxPXg9BOjoZS8I6gCbRhqFCKjTjikUK8OJN1E0AmtKJaHMjYJnBoQaJVVdvve3XZGxOCXmk0JiKN1K16LiHN4ODlnlptBH/s1600/6+Nikki+D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 396px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDSN6X0rrsIPxjLTDbwRx_4PTfISMBug6quZoCsJSsb5GfndxPXg9BOjoZS8I6gCbRhqFCKjTjikUK8OJN1E0AmtKJaHMjYJnBoQaJVVdvve3XZGxOCXmk0JiKN1K16LiHN4ODlnlptBH/s400/6+Nikki+D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581019020023647906" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Yeah, I remember her. She did that "Daddy's Little Girl" song…. </a><br /><br />Bobcat: Exactly! So we was developing stuff like that the whole time. One day Russell came and and said, "Bobcat, you are getting your first check". So that was the day, my breakthrough moment, the beginning of my entire career. Not long after that, Russell came to us and asked if we would like to do some pre-production for LL Cool J. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Ok… now the plot thickens…</a><br /><br />Bobcat: Exactly.. That was our defining moment. We were like "Of course!" .. So we met LL, and this is a good story I am going to tell you right here. The first time we met LL we was nervous and excited because Jam Master Jay, I was always real close with Jason, he had always told me that if me and this rapper named LL ever hooked up it was going to be ridiculous.That's what he used to tell me, so I already had that in my mind. So anyway, and no disrespect to my man Cut (Cut Creator) because me and him still talk and as a matter of fact he's a part of our organization (The Foundation). So anyway, we was in the studio and LL was like "Yo, let me see something. Whats up?" so I got on the turntables and I acted like I couldn't cut. I would do like these sorry little scratches and then I would act like the record was skipping. LL, he's real impatient so he's like "Yo, yo! C'mon man, let my man Cut Creator show you. He's from New York!". So Cut Creator got on and he started doing his thing. So I sat back and watched, then I said "Yo, can I get another shot? Can I try one more time?" and he was like "Sure, ok, c'mon. What you gonna do?". I said, "Can I warm up first?" and he was like "Sure, I don't care".<br /><br />Now in the studio normally you know you have just one turntable hooked up just for the purposes of scratching. So I asked, "Can I hook up both turntables?" and once again he was like "Sure, I don't care". So I hooked both of the tables up and I started cutting "Rock The Bells"…(Mimics Scratching) and I started going off on "Rock The Bells" and he, I can't even explain to you, and he'll tell you if you ever interview him and if you interview him ask him about this story. He…Went…Crazy! You feel me? Because again, we (West Coast DJ's) were like light years ahead of them at this time. I know DJ's in New York is bananas now, but then we was so far ahead. So he was like "You gotta join my crew and you gotta to on tour". I was like, "Naw. I DJ for Breeze" because I am a loyal cat. This was a life changing invitation but I was like "Naw, I DJ for Breeze". He said, "talk to Breeze".When I went to Breeze I was like "Morgan…LL wants me to " and he cut in "Man, I just knew he was going to do that" (laughs).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXC0bfn5ysDJmNtMJ0DfwR0WRAElhO0UdPuOm7s8R1uaBELdS_pyV8KmVyY0yCcQ5n6m_5YTYHeev9TO8CsNZgGFJg9JXMYZhBIUAJp09re9DJuHpEI5kG_ZNuia7f0VTzLtrShMl3Efl6/s1600/7+E-Love%252C+Cut+Creator+and+DJ+Bobcat.+1987.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 335px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXC0bfn5ysDJmNtMJ0DfwR0WRAElhO0UdPuOm7s8R1uaBELdS_pyV8KmVyY0yCcQ5n6m_5YTYHeev9TO8CsNZgGFJg9JXMYZhBIUAJp09re9DJuHpEI5kG_ZNuia7f0VTzLtrShMl3Efl6/s400/7+E-Love%252C+Cut+Creator+and+DJ+Bobcat.+1987.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581019481511295474" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Now, were you guys known as the L.A. Posse at that time?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: You know who named us? A lot of people don't know this, but check this out. You know who named us L.A. Posse? Jam Master Jay… That's who named us L.A. Posse. You know you had the Hollis Crew and we used to be with them dudes all of the time. Those were some fun times. Imagine hanging out with Run and them, with Public Enemy… We was all recording at the same studio. Heavy D used to be coming through there, you know what I mean? Anyway, yeah, Jam Master Jay named us the L.A. Posse.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebyfhhgJnxW_xHTndhU5OA2FDjc3czm3450TsJnOUWGr64NSNJX5jHgTXmUzhBrGkecnbmJoLjYC0uX_BZAgJe_WC7p-1wsQJQdRutm5C4SrNHUZ2PkF9SxKKnG9TleyOJcuoqfa6fPND/s1600/8+Jam+Master+Jay.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 395px; height: 315px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebyfhhgJnxW_xHTndhU5OA2FDjc3czm3450TsJnOUWGr64NSNJX5jHgTXmUzhBrGkecnbmJoLjYC0uX_BZAgJe_WC7p-1wsQJQdRutm5C4SrNHUZ2PkF9SxKKnG9TleyOJcuoqfa6fPND/s400/8+Jam+Master+Jay.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581019770662582146" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Who was all a part of it?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: L.A. Posse was originally Me, Darryl Pierce, Dwayne Simon who was Muffla and DJ Pooh. Then Breeze obviously was a part of The L.A. Posse as an MC. But the production team was who I mentioned. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Who came up with that hook in Breeze's "L.A. Posse" song.. The "Ooooh, L.A., Californ-I-A" hook?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: That's Muffla! Muffla did that.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: So what was the first record you worked on with LL? </a><br /><br />Bobcat: Oh My God… (pauses) The first record?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Yeah… or did you just start working on "Bigger And Deffer" at that point?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: You know what? I would probably say the first song that we did was "Get Down". Do you remember that record? I used "Shaft" on there like I was telling you earlier. I looped it on the turntables. Its just crazy if you go back and listen to that record, and I really want you to go back and listen to it, if you listen to that record I start off with jabs (mimicks the sound) …I was taking the turntable, like DJ's do now, I was taking the pitch and pitching it up and down and making the different notes with the stabs. Nobody was doing that.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8SXAW8ZdB9yfMMKtbJoxMFJmY5ZD6nBKQAVUoq8B2NGtsmAWIkVh8CUp47QTjtzvSqatqbGIbYnO4QzkUWCUu7W8h60kJSvpo17ryQEMFS1SnH3h8V7hl3jxnTtL-RNwkG_n-cvMvJLo/s1600/9+walking+with+a+panther+.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8SXAW8ZdB9yfMMKtbJoxMFJmY5ZD6nBKQAVUoq8B2NGtsmAWIkVh8CUp47QTjtzvSqatqbGIbYnO4QzkUWCUu7W8h60kJSvpo17ryQEMFS1SnH3h8V7hl3jxnTtL-RNwkG_n-cvMvJLo/s400/9+walking+with+a+panther+.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581020297228933506" /></a><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2qXvIkeFAYk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Did this just all hit you in the head or something?</a><br /><br />Bobcat:Well see I was already making mixtapes! All of that kind of stuff, well I wasn't doing it on that level because I wasn't making records then, but I was taking the things that I would be doing at the party's, you know tricks! Turntable tricks, and just incorporating them into the songs. Just little stuff like that. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Lets talk about the Bigger And Deffer album. You did "I'm Bad" right?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: I did the majority of the record, period. I did "I'm Bad". I did "I Need Love". I wrote "I Need Love". The melody, not the lyrics. Styles, I had "I Need Love" before I even came to New York. Because I had melodies and stuff but I didn't have anybody to give them to. I had that before I left Los Angeles… <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Wow……</a><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NEUX-HYRtUA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />Bobcat: "I'm Bad" that comes from "Courageous Cats". You know what I mean? Part of that, and from S.W.A.T. All of that stuff is just DJ stuff. Digging in crates. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: I'm Bad was a crazy beat! </a><br /><br />Bobcat: That's "Courageous Cats" (mimics the bassline)… I just flipped it. You see what I'm saying? I'm Bobcat (laughs).<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oVDfyc2lh4Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: What was your favorite song off that album?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: Off the Bigger And Deffer? <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Yeah….</a><br /><br />Bobcat: You know, now you got me thinking because we got the "Doo Wop" on there. "Candy"… you know what? Personally, I didn't know what we was doing but we were doing a real well diverse album. We were one of the firsts to set the tone for diversity in Hip Hop. Because you had Run and them doing their thing. You had the Beastie Boys doing their thing. But a lot of records at the time were kind of one dimensional. On this album it was very diverse because you had the ballads. You had the story telling songs. You had "My Rhyme Ain't Done". You had "Get Down", a party song. But I don't really have a favorite. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Did you produce on his next album?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: Now this is the business part, and that's why we are doing what we are doing now (with The Foundation).By me being so young and not understanding contracts, agreements, publishing and points, they didn't pay me and us what we should have made for the Bigger And Deffer record. I found out after the record came out. It sold 3 Million copies and broke all kinds of records. I wanted to renegotiate and get more points and the people that was representing LL didn't want to do that so I told them if they don't do that then I am not coming to the table. So they went and did the album without me. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: The Panther album, right?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: Yup, Walk With A Panther album, and it didn't do as well as it could have because Bobcat wasn't involved (laughs)…But then I came back for "Mama Said Knock You Out".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DZC58D5BD2Kh9BTi6OOHwG-ZLynWmsZg0illMgWUA6wPKj_1alDs3Wle18uqRzgAiVawvhc84yopR7A87bVedN1FfY8A8FuccKAQj75XP_Oep3Uu4DisgTCeKlqgCVgYObisqD1qyAmg/s1600/9+walking+with+a+panther+.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DZC58D5BD2Kh9BTi6OOHwG-ZLynWmsZg0illMgWUA6wPKj_1alDs3Wle18uqRzgAiVawvhc84yopR7A87bVedN1FfY8A8FuccKAQj75XP_Oep3Uu4DisgTCeKlqgCVgYObisqD1qyAmg/s400/9+walking+with+a+panther+.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581021845950805986" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: You weren't on 14 Shots To The Dome, were you?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: Now, I hate talking about that one and I'mma tell you why (laughs). One of the greatest records that me and LL have ever done is called "Crossroads" and its on that album. I used a full harmonic orchestra on that record in New York. We used 105 tracks on this song. This song is the most complex and unbelievable masterpiece ever created. Go back and listen to that. I personally know that it would have taken LL's career to the next level, because you know you can only stay at a street level or mainstream level for so long and then its over with, so you've got to go somewhere else and that song I believe would have taken him to that next level. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Unfortunately it had to be with "Pink Cookies In Plastic Bag Getting Crushed By Buildings" (laughs)…</a><br /><br />Bobcat: Yeah! Marley Marl talked him into doing "this is how I'm coming" and trying to do street. Treach was the hot thing at the time, so LL was trying to compete with Treach and you know what I do as a Producer is I try to keep artists being who they are. You know, trying to get them to staying away from paying attention to what the other people are doing that's hot.Because everybody spots a knockoff especially in Hip Hop immediately! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Lets go back to "Mama Said Knock You Out" for a second….How did you come up with that crazy concept?</a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowdn-HKn3YNt-t1P-VIfUmShSnwnYrNGq8RzkkCaCiGN_KU6_wwfZ-T9mlL7vR4vJthXZLst8k3KBTiDUYFHA741_1yFcKBTCSjC1hixz3UOjxun8_l63A6UuJehqRbz43eODufLBpaJn/s1600/10+mama+sid+knock+you.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 393px; height: 393px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowdn-HKn3YNt-t1P-VIfUmShSnwnYrNGq8RzkkCaCiGN_KU6_wwfZ-T9mlL7vR4vJthXZLst8k3KBTiDUYFHA741_1yFcKBTCSjC1hixz3UOjxun8_l63A6UuJehqRbz43eODufLBpaJn/s400/10+mama+sid+knock+you.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581022499549095826" /></a><br /><br /><br />Bobcat: It's interesting and I wish my mother was right here to tell you that part because she would be like (mimics his mom's voice) "Let me tell you something".. (laughs). First, and my wife is right here to testify, the concept is my concept. Not the lyrics, but the style of rap is mine. See… now its getting more interesting. What's interesting and deep about this, is that me and LL were beefing at the time. I wasn't working with him and when I say "beefing" I mean that we weren't working together at the time. Marley Marl, they (Def Jam) had hired him to do that album. Well, they was pretty much done with that album and in some kind of way, I don't remember who called who, but we started talking and I was playing him some beats over the phone. Mama Said Knock You Out track was already a track. That was, I had a crew called Microphone Mafia and on a lot of Pac records I say at the end "Microphone Mafia", and so it was a clique record for us. K-Born, Threat, Nefertiti they was all on that record and nobody had really wanted to sign them at the time, and me and Pooh was trying to kick doors down trying to get people to hear a new kind of West Coast thing and they didn't want to hear it. <br /><br />To make a longer story short, I played that track for LL and he went crazy of course. I knew he would because everybody loved that track. We agreed that we were going to do a song so I flew out to New York. We were in his condo with his Farmers Blvd. Crew, a bunch of cats that were around his way, and we were all up in there freestyling and drinking 40 ounces. I used to have, because I used to rap to not saying that like I am rapping right now because you know every producer has some skills (laughs), but I had a rap that I used to say to that beat.So the rap that I used to say to that beat I was saying it that night just chillin'. So LL started doing the style that I was doing to the beat and I said , "That's how I want you to rap!" <br /><br />See sometimes you can't tell cocky rappers, "do it like this" because they won't do it. So you've got to kind of trick them in to doing it. You feel me?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Wow… so that whole thing was basically you!! </a><br /><br />Bobcat: The concept, the beat and the style, not the lyrics….There is so much to talk about with that song because its crazy. He was a point where people were saying "LL was washed up", so I referred to myself as other producers do as a "Coach" you know like in Boxing or whatever. I was like LL's custom model. Just like I did with "Jack The Ripper", I made him do that record! He didn't want to answer Kool Moe Dee!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-RkXEOrA_zkNd0VcGQkwkk1RNUF1BB5pqtJU9CefzmFdDzJP_iu4Ws57B5ENxzxee9qfV1xL6AvWeBQ_gQtXcl_g5ZRVDu1seOLN1UjtaFfm5jAUkYWB5zDHCktw46SG_DG8cM7zjRC_/s1600/11+kool+moe+dee+8353847aadff637f2f9f837e257b7cc42331a13.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 203px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-RkXEOrA_zkNd0VcGQkwkk1RNUF1BB5pqtJU9CefzmFdDzJP_iu4Ws57B5ENxzxee9qfV1xL6AvWeBQ_gQtXcl_g5ZRVDu1seOLN1UjtaFfm5jAUkYWB5zDHCktw46SG_DG8cM7zjRC_/s400/11+kool+moe+dee+8353847aadff637f2f9f837e257b7cc42331a13.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581022843794547826" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: (laughs)… wow… I didn't know that part. </a><br /><br />Bobcat:So, you know, we got in the studio and he got around Marley Marl once again and started trying to rap cool. (Mimics in a cool low voice) "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years"…I said "C'mon man!"… "C'mon man!". So we got into a big beef, a big argument and then I said "lets just go to the store and get some 40's and come back, you know get the vibe back like we had at the spot". I was real mad because to be honest, and you can quote this, Marley Marl was trying to sabotage the project.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8FagfLuLXuCCjkG2f6Ts_sF33H61lHctpg3vVR46O4ri0LDRWaQiNfRPaYiYkmj1gaps8mHtUnwdv7R1JAiRQGFBJI41H0VtEz2iLNBWELZ9QeKIBlHEC8jyvYqyYaPZ3QJep2jlu_lQ/s1600/12+marley+marl.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8FagfLuLXuCCjkG2f6Ts_sF33H61lHctpg3vVR46O4ri0LDRWaQiNfRPaYiYkmj1gaps8mHtUnwdv7R1JAiRQGFBJI41H0VtEz2iLNBWELZ9QeKIBlHEC8jyvYqyYaPZ3QJep2jlu_lQ/s400/12+marley+marl.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581023228713786994" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Wow…..</a><br /><br />Bobcat: He was like, "This sounds like some West Coast whoopty whoop" and he'll even tell that to you! Marley Marl will tell you, because you know he didn't understand it. What he does is funky and I love Marley Marl's production but it was a different type of project. If you remember Bigger and Deffer we did "Go Cut Creator" and it was a rock type thing because we grew up under Run-DMC and them.So part of my things is to make hard heavy rap records that are explosive and slash everybody type of records and concepts. So we got in there again, and again Marley Marl was hating so we started drinking 40's and got the vibe back. Marley Marl, and you can quote this too, he went to sleep. Yes… because we were at his house. Marley Marl left the studio, went upstars and went to sleep while we were recording the vocals on this record. When LL says "C'mon" that's not part of the song. LL was mad at me because I was cussing him out and talking real sick about the way he was rapping. He was sounding ridiculous and I was pissed off. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: So that "C'mon" at the beginning was aimed at you? </a><br /><br />Bobcat: Yeah, because I kept saying "that ain't it, rewind it!!". Because when I am in the studio, I will stop you immediately and tell you that ain't it, just like a Movie Director. If an Actor is not in character you spot it immediately and say that's not it! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Next time I listen to that song I am going to think about all of that and picture it (laughs)…</a><br /><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vimZj8HW0Kg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />Bobcat: Yeah, see that's all raw real aggression and that's what it needed. People were talking about LL and saying he was finished and washed up, you know how they do it. That's the real story. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: So what did you move in to next after this? </a><br /><br />Bobcat: With me, I ended up doing Ice Cube, me and DJ Pooh, on Death Certificate...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Oz4n6DyaH33uHg2VhkCKWdWoDPMwLTEgeIVr8pcCH8eLePIQHATDo5a4X_zRD9n4232Ykm8P9XVeKdEAq3-f5QUxZuJKyRdTU4yQG8FdaZoYkVDZzgWOdsgORrdbs4o7jf0yI6qzmPqb/s1600/13+death+certificate+.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Oz4n6DyaH33uHg2VhkCKWdWoDPMwLTEgeIVr8pcCH8eLePIQHATDo5a4X_zRD9n4232Ykm8P9XVeKdEAq3-f5QUxZuJKyRdTU4yQG8FdaZoYkVDZzgWOdsgORrdbs4o7jf0yI6qzmPqb/s400/13+death+certificate+.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581030312685502354" /></a><br /><br />..and a bunch of stuff with Pac and with MC Ren…<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xuHLfumVhUgHbbDjb8wZ9mN77uMGu6M7zj5Tja3brq0gff2e_OQAw_3GLCvCmHKt6CBUH5LIMOvCiyuRQ0bT7D9Pj0xE0jDxEdjOky5yw7BCMBhnj1l3KsByLoVpcpAg_m0iYZQWc8iy/s1600/MC+Ren+-+Kizz+My+Black+Azz.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xuHLfumVhUgHbbDjb8wZ9mN77uMGu6M7zj5Tja3brq0gff2e_OQAw_3GLCvCmHKt6CBUH5LIMOvCiyuRQ0bT7D9Pj0xE0jDxEdjOky5yw7BCMBhnj1l3KsByLoVpcpAg_m0iYZQWc8iy/s400/MC+Ren+-+Kizz+My+Black+Azz.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581031569158591842" /></a><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7dOjVczHa7I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Now that you mention Pac, I heard somewhere that you were like one of the first producers to ever work with him. </a><br /><br />Bobcat: Oh man, let me tell you that story!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Please do…</a><br /><br />Bobcat: My little cousin D-Skills, he is a pioneer and underground hero too. He had a show out in Atlanta, the Black Panther Hour. Skills and Pac used to be best friends and room-mate. This was when Pac had 2Pacalypse out.You know, he was still underground and he wasn't "2Pac" the way we know "2pac" yet. He was just a regular ol' underground rapper. So D-Skills came to me and was like "Yo Bob, man, can you take this kid under your wing?" and I was like "Who is he?". So I asked if I could hear him and I think I even went and bought the CD but when I got the CD I played that CD all night as I rolled down Sunset all night long. Just bumpin' 2Pacalypse. I said "This kid is sick! Let me work with him." So as soon as we got together we hit it off and at that time Pac used to be real kick back. He used to kind of come around the studio and just not really talk loud. I had my crew, the L.A. crew, everybody was in there talking loud and he was just kind of ear-hustling and peeping out the whole situation. On that album I brought Ice-T in. I brought Cube in, and Cube was at the stage where he was one of the most feared MC's in the game with all the controversy. So I brought Cube in on "Last Words" so you know Pac was excited about that, working with his heroes. Ice T came and did a song. I brought Threat in to do a song with him called "Peep Game". I did "Soldiers Revenge" on that particular record. Then later on after he got out of jail, on the All Eyez On Me album, I did "Holla At Me".<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XpntYM4wcAo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/styles">Styles: Did you maintain a cool relationship with him the whole time until he died?</a><br /><br />Bobcat: You know what? Let me tell you what happened. When Pac started the "Thug Life" thing, I mean everybody saw, he went through a transition. He kinda started buggin' out a little bit. He and Treach got into some major problems out here on the West, and I ain't going to say the Gang but its one of the biggest Gangs out here, and I had to stop them from smashin' him.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn1yjC0ZY9zwGxI398rPZ0Sbs264dDY_4QX8UeEtM1CQeVhOT_hi02fVZyz3f9lm4DflQQL7jXMxLr7yoHnYLq3wzpwUbGjFZSnZU9lteL4B4vSL8dxAruKOtG_iSVUIxDNK4I-LAA9dRA/s1600/13+reach+and+pac.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn1yjC0ZY9zwGxI398rPZ0Sbs264dDY_4QX8UeEtM1CQeVhOT_hi02fVZyz3f9lm4DflQQL7jXMxLr7yoHnYLq3wzpwUbGjFZSnZU9lteL4B4vSL8dxAruKOtG_iSVUIxDNK4I-LAA9dRA/s400/13+reach+and+pac.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581032262511913250" /></a><br /><br />I met them up at Echo Sounds and squashed a major beef that Pac and Treach had with them. People in the streets know what I am talking about, you feel me? It was that type of atmosphere, because I used to take Pac to all them clubs with Ren and them, imagine this, it used to be Me, Ren, LL, Pac and Eazy hanging out and doing all kinds of stuff. Even in this hotel (Universal Sheraton)!! Me, Pac, Eazy and LL had a Super Bowl Party ..and Yo-Yo. Again like I said I used to be taking him to the clubs, renting limousines and he was like one of my little brothers. Like a lot of us have done in the past he kind of got out of control with The Thug Life thing and all of that. I know this sounds a little crazy, but I say this a lot of times even about my own homies and one of my brother's that's in jail, he's been in jail 10 years and he'll be out next year (Irv Dogg), and I was happy when Irv Dogg went to jail and I was happy when Pac went to jail. Because they was on a course, a course that would have ended Pac's life sooner than it ended. He was just going in that direction. When he came out of jail, I did notice that he was a different person completely.<br /><br />Bobcat then...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNncvUj8hoene4WDjqogW8Dfua1gvRMtf8uY4pe_t7yqKLNsO8GQcyX2rxxTKqp3lR8ICFWRQhK_BfxgwMO5B2XO29dafsZoBF6mrZyv74NtLEIbGvBMgELrA_K-PKNpfBY23DHL0sRkdM/s1600/14+then.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 176px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNncvUj8hoene4WDjqogW8Dfua1gvRMtf8uY4pe_t7yqKLNsO8GQcyX2rxxTKqp3lR8ICFWRQhK_BfxgwMO5B2XO29dafsZoBF6mrZyv74NtLEIbGvBMgELrA_K-PKNpfBY23DHL0sRkdM/s400/14+then.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581032741957155890" /></a><br /><br />Bobcat now...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoevf1eYGZt26835FWtzmTLoyWpB6mJVlbeJz687J0cWT-6WyRhAfJzXl6zG3hQqw0CdevBR5-yAacx8hw2MEfOZxwNHG2EQjxfYrSI5N_2gNChcnVQ6-lh9v4tadGstvzUwn5FiduaZI/s1600/15+now.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCoevf1eYGZt26835FWtzmTLoyWpB6mJVlbeJz687J0cWT-6WyRhAfJzXl6zG3hQqw0CdevBR5-yAacx8hw2MEfOZxwNHG2EQjxfYrSI5N_2gNChcnVQ6-lh9v4tadGstvzUwn5FiduaZI/s400/15+now.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581032518969321602" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.gearslutz.com/board/rap-hip-hop-engineering-production/588710-how-did-some-cats-la-end-up-producing-ll-cool-js-1987-b-d-album.html">VIA<br />GearSlutz.com</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-37156339277437059072011-03-06T06:01:00.000-08:002011-03-06T06:04:51.759-08:00Dee Barnes/Pump it up interview with Ice Cube/N.W.A & The D.O.C (1989)<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FFh4BW_V59M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-79709117315947163552011-02-27T17:53:00.000-08:002011-03-05T15:32:11.542-08:00illuminati2g interview with Chris "The Glove" Taylor<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysDuf5F9rmX_QR1RpJG5V-A9qxUmAB9DNeLNu0Kp0VKDUyAgOGe7pvCb6JikP_zFBEIJQZTSOzYOQxhTHeRN8nfWZXknlr3r8q7Qu75IcC8ULgWkLyDYOf1r68wWlvq6lKWkmXDXvNyhu/s1600/chris_the_glove_taylor_golden_records_3-300x211.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysDuf5F9rmX_QR1RpJG5V-A9qxUmAB9DNeLNu0Kp0VKDUyAgOGe7pvCb6JikP_zFBEIJQZTSOzYOQxhTHeRN8nfWZXknlr3r8q7Qu75IcC8ULgWkLyDYOf1r68wWlvq6lKWkmXDXvNyhu/s400/chris_the_glove_taylor_golden_records_3-300x211.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578538338237794146" /></a><br /><br /><br />If you don’t know who that is<br />ya might want to do your homework.<br />The legendary DJ/producer talks about his work with;<br />-Ice T (Radio crew,Breakin' (the movie),Reckless,<a href="http://fatcapmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/03/blast-from-past-part-3-ice-t-chris.html">Breakin' 'n' Enterin'</a>)<br />-Ruthless Records, Death Row and Aftermath records.<br />-Working with Eazy E and Dr. Dre.<br />-Po Broke N Lonely and so much more.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgP81D4k7kFA3yOTZvmUpGKm8WkCWTpGEFSUL9NvuEaFI5IacnmMfesZDojpugjSZX3V-US11_nOPB3qoJr60kXlP6HlCWs0NcGeZtT0nnB7uL6oeClkJzJUd4BXu_xyyg_-cOczRCOrb/s1600/theglove.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 392px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqgP81D4k7kFA3yOTZvmUpGKm8WkCWTpGEFSUL9NvuEaFI5IacnmMfesZDojpugjSZX3V-US11_nOPB3qoJr60kXlP6HlCWs0NcGeZtT0nnB7uL6oeClkJzJUd4BXu_xyyg_-cOczRCOrb/s400/theglove.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578541347991475490" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">How’s it going?</a><br /><br />Going great, how about you?<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Good.<br />With those unfamiliar with your start,<br />tell me a little bit about how you got your<br />start in music and who are some of<br />your musical influences out there coming up.</a><br /><br />Oh wow, I got my start in music 1983,<br />I became a DJ and basically<br />taught myself how to DJ. I had one person,<br />Tony Joesph, that showed me the ends and outs<br />and he was the only person I knew from<br />the east coast that had any understanding of DJing.<br /><br />He taught me a few things and everything<br />else I learned how to do on my own.<br />I taught myself how to scratch, mix,<br />blend and all those good old things.<br />After that I moved along and kind of<br />conquered Los Angeles by doing alot of<br />house parties and moving on to the bigger clubs.<br /><br />I ended up at this one club called Club Radiotron...<br />(<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/filmlocationsguide/journal-blog/breakin1984">It was located on Park View St. between<br />7th & 8th Streets, near MacArthur Park in Los Angeles.</a>)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLM7BZBxvMWZym4x1mOXCsVbVlwB7tm0cwPnP5flldaGyRdJQoyG_Y7Mv3roDhKV38D9CPpChSM3GG4_-79sIGsjNwwyRAfiRevGrY4VMNic19MsMfFUQoMVe5H8Gym_lkYfdSsp5AyfjE/s1600/Radiotron+.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLM7BZBxvMWZym4x1mOXCsVbVlwB7tm0cwPnP5flldaGyRdJQoyG_Y7Mv3roDhKV38D9CPpChSM3GG4_-79sIGsjNwwyRAfiRevGrY4VMNic19MsMfFUQoMVe5H8Gym_lkYfdSsp5AyfjE/s400/Radiotron+.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578812231891155762" /></a><br />...where I pretty much got my nickname The Glove<br />and it got me in the movie Breakin and Breakin 2,<br />hooked up with Ice T and a whole lot<br />of big things branched off from that.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">That actually leads right into my next question.<br />What was it like working with Ice T<br />back at that time and being in the Radio Crew<br />and being one of the founding pioneers on the<br />west coast as far as DJing is concerned?</a><br /><br />Well to answer the first part of that question,<br />working with Ice T was great,<br />that guy is a fun guy (laughs).<br />Everytime we got together it was a blast<br />and as far as being a founding member of<br />the Radio Crew and a west coast DJ,<br />you know you really don’t know you<br />are doing all that when you are doing it.<br /><br />But as I look back on it,<br />it was really a great learning experience<br />and I am proud to be a part of that.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">After that, you then started to work with<br />Ruthless Records with the group Po Broke N Lonely.<br />At that time for that R&B group,<br />that was a pretty groundbreaking<br />group and style that you had.<br />Tell me a little bit about your time<br />in being with the group and being with Ruthless.</a><br /><br />Oh wow, yeah the whole thing with Ruthless<br />was also a great learning experience.<br />Me coming from a DJing background,<br />I wanted my music to be in the club all the time.<br />I wanted it in the clubs with BBD and all<br />those other groups that were out at the time.<br /><br />But I wanted our sound to have more of a edge<br />lyrically as well as musically.<br />A friend of mine introduced me to Dr. Dre,<br />I would say around 1989,<br />and its funny because we never met even<br />though we were coming up at the same time in LA,<br />he was over in the Compton area<br />and I was on the west side.<br /><br />Actually I was the first one to get<br />a platinum record out here for Breakin.<br />Me and Ice T, Breakin sold 4 million so we were<br />the first to go platinum before everybody else...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhhcihMyKu42RigEr1yIxWPQt_RUNIp6pmjpmpa5_BrNw6IZL1nX87gqMco_kLSbvswAY98LvUgHdUNXdONQqqKgPWbNhZXPBbMzVhhW_LHzIcMKYU4yMQSls0COLH5r_QUEdAFj5YCGO/s1600/Chris+Taylor+reckless+breakin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhhcihMyKu42RigEr1yIxWPQt_RUNIp6pmjpmpa5_BrNw6IZL1nX87gqMco_kLSbvswAY98LvUgHdUNXdONQqqKgPWbNhZXPBbMzVhhW_LHzIcMKYU4yMQSls0COLH5r_QUEdAFj5YCGO/s400/Chris+Taylor+reckless+breakin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5578551397151545954" /></a><br /><br />...Me and Dre met, and I told him about my<br />concept of the group and I let him hear a few things.<br />Him and Eazy jumped right on it because<br />Ruthless did not have a R&B group at the time.<br /><br />RC, myself and Mike Lynn we just had another<br />party making those songs man and we did<br />alot of things that people are not aware of.<br />We have alot of stuff that<br />I like to call the Lost Sessions,<br />I probably have…., shoot, 40, 50 songs<br />that no one has ever heard that would still<br />be relevant today if you heard them.<br /><br />Moving along though,<br />when we were just trying to break<br />loose with Ruthless through Epic,<br />there became a problem.<br />We discovered a issue financially that<br />Eazy and Dre were gonna fall into.<br />A friend of mine was looking over the contracts<br />and told Dre that Eazy was screwing<br />him on his contract and not<br />playing him what he was owed.<br /><br />Dre and Eazy fell out and that left us in limbo.<br />Without a unified front to push our music,<br />we was just kind of stuck there swinging in the wind.<br />We decided to leave Ruthless along with Dre,<br />and I worked with Dre on the Chronic<br />in the meantime and we also worked<br />on a song called The Sex Is On,<br />which was on the Deep Cover soundtrack.<br /><br />Deep Cover was the first<br />release from Death Row actually.<br />From there, we finally got our<br />release from Ruthless after Eazy E<br />passed and then he went on<br />and signed with Atlantic Records.<br />That is where we did our biggest work,<br />Twisted and all those other songs,<br />those were on Atlantic.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Like you said earlier,<br />Dre then leaves Ruthless<br />and goes to Death Row.<br />Tell me a little bit of the differences<br />working on Death Row as oppossed to<br />working with Dre at Aftermath.</a><br /><br />Well I will tell you the thing<br />that was definitely different on Aftermath<br />than Death Row was you was not<br />seeing the beatings (laughs).<br />There was alot of beatings going on at<br />Death Row and none of that was<br />happening at Aftermath.<br />At Aftermath it was strictly business<br />and at first I was not interested in<br />joining up but the lead singer of<br />Po Broke N Lonely, RC,<br />convinced me to come on along<br />and jump on the train.<br /><br />I agreed and started out as<br />a staff producer and co-collaborator<br />with Dre as I always was.<br />It was good,<br />interesting times in my life and<br />I believe that the first album,<br />Aftermath Presents,<br />it sold like a million copies,<br />that album was unheralded.<br /><br />Musically there was alot of<br />good stuff on there and we<br />reached out and did some different things too.<br />The most that I can say about that<br />time period was that it was another<br />instrumental learning period leading up to<br />Chronic 2001 and everything after that.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Dre at that time did not work on alot<br />of albums outside of the label,<br />even when he was on Death Row.<br />The one album that he did do was The Firm,<br />which from the outside looking in had <br />crazy expectations that almost seemed unattainable.<br />What are your thoughts and opinions working<br />on that album and memories that<br />you have in working with The Firm?</a><br /><br />I will tell you this,<br />Nas and AZ,<br />those are some great dudes man.<br />Nature too, but I’ll tell you the<br />thing that did The Firm wrong was that<br />their first release was the wrong release.<br />When they came out with Firm Biz,<br />that was not what people were checking out for.<br />When Phone Tap came out,<br />it resurrected that whole project and<br />if they would have released Phone Tap first,<br />all the expectations would have been achieved.<br /><br />People would have been like woah<br />this is what they sound like,<br />I can’t wait to get the album.<br />That record was dead in the water before<br />Phone Tap and that single pushed it to<br />platinum on the strength of just that one single.<br />It was a real heavy political thing and<br />the releases were chosen by Steve Stoute.<br />He was trying to push his crew,<br />The Trackmasters,<br />and they wanted a more traditional<br />east coast sound and the first single<br />to not be a Dr. Dre one with a more west coast song.<br /><br />We totally redesigned what<br />we was doing before that project.<br />Our music was all mob music,<br />we was not trying to be east coast or west coast,<br />it was just about the mob.<br />Firm was a family and we was coming with<br />mafia music and that is where my mind was,<br />being the co-creator of Phone Tap<br />and all that mafia music on there,<br />that came from my mind and Dre’s mind.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqWfujLYOij3QRxXsXG2DqNr_mlvBYNjq6ynD-IqC-v0iAQ_Vh7WvJZkIe7RU_inTE_MvBPvE1ZDuBXPx6dGq-KxXkGiKemPCOhd9IzYzk6Rg27bfgSBkl-bOfYB9rvXPqP3Tve5jLTxR/s1600/Phone+tap+produced+by+Dr.Dre+%2526+Chris+the+glove+taylor.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqWfujLYOij3QRxXsXG2DqNr_mlvBYNjq6ynD-IqC-v0iAQ_Vh7WvJZkIe7RU_inTE_MvBPvE1ZDuBXPx6dGq-KxXkGiKemPCOhd9IzYzk6Rg27bfgSBkl-bOfYB9rvXPqP3Tve5jLTxR/s400/Phone+tap+produced+by+Dr.Dre+%2526+Chris+the+glove+taylor.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580741733936295682" /></a><br /><br />We sat there and brainstormed on a ton of stuff.<br />Bud’da was there and Mel-Man was there as well,<br />on the other side they had<br />Trackmasters and L.E.S. as well.<br />If you really listen to the records<br />you can almost hear the difference<br />in production styles and values throughout.<br />It does not have a cohesive sound<br />from beginning to end the way it should have been.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Even if you look on the back of the album,<br />there was like a thousand logos on it.<br />You had every record label in the world on there (laughs).</a><br /><br />Right.<br /><br />You had all these strange deals,<br />Foxy had to have her label and logo on there,<br />so on and so forth,<br />Cormega was not on the record because<br />him and Nas fell out so<br />we ended up going with Nature.<br />Nature is a beast on his own,<br />but that album really was not<br />a fair place for him to catapult<br />from because people were expecting Cormega.<br />We had fun making it and we<br />did the album all in Miami,<br />because back then they were not coming to<br />the west coast and we was not going to New York<br />so we did it in a neutral site.<br />Kind of like how they do the Super Bowl (laughs).<br /><br />It was great times man.<br />I had nothing but good times doing all of that stuff.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">So basically now after that album,<br />you transition into Dre’s sequel,<br />Chronic 2001,<br />which I consider the best sequel<br />to a debut album in hip hop history.<br />What was it like linking back up with<br />the artists that you worked with at<br />Death Row and then linking up with the fresh,<br />new talent, Timebomb, Knocturnal, Hittman?</a><br /><br />Hittman was great and he did a majority of<br />Dre’s lyrics on that album.<br />He was a writer in A LOT of those raps<br />and that is why Hittman did not come out.<br />He was supposed to be released as a solo artist<br />but people would have said that he sounded like Dre.<br />Dre kind of swallowed him up because he needed<br />him for that album and after he got through with him,<br />you hardly ever heard anything from him.<br /><br />On each album,<br />I have a signature song on there that<br />I co-produced or did work on.<br />For instance, on the Chronic,<br />I co-produced Stranded On Death Row...<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Cgq6HicBdgM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />...and on The Firm I co-produced Phone Tap.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqWfujLYOij3QRxXsXG2DqNr_mlvBYNjq6ynD-IqC-v0iAQ_Vh7WvJZkIe7RU_inTE_MvBPvE1ZDuBXPx6dGq-KxXkGiKemPCOhd9IzYzk6Rg27bfgSBkl-bOfYB9rvXPqP3Tve5jLTxR/s1600/Phone+tap+produced+by+Dr.Dre+%2526+Chris+the+glove+taylor.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqWfujLYOij3QRxXsXG2DqNr_mlvBYNjq6ynD-IqC-v0iAQ_Vh7WvJZkIe7RU_inTE_MvBPvE1ZDuBXPx6dGq-KxXkGiKemPCOhd9IzYzk6Rg27bfgSBkl-bOfYB9rvXPqP3Tve5jLTxR/s400/Phone+tap+produced+by+Dr.Dre+%2526+Chris+the+glove+taylor.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580741733936295682" /></a><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6L-MxUImOzw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />At the time I was not getting the…,<br />I mean people always knew what I did,<br />I would get phone calls from different celebrities<br />or people that were in hip hop or in the business that knew.<br />But the credits were not in print like it should have been,<br />but I never had a problem with it.<br />I always compare it to a college education,<br />you learn and then you go out and do your thing.<br /><br />In between that though,<br />I played the keys on "Hello" for NWA on Cube’s album...<br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/59NvWzN9IYE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />...That was a comeback for them (N.W.A) at the time.<br />It was a big record out here on the west coast<br />but working with all those guys,<br />I got to say man, it’s like when people play the Lakers,<br />they bring their best game.<br />All these cats ALWAYS came with it,<br />even guys like Hittman that you never heard of.<br /><br />I don’t know what is taking Dre<br />so long to come with this next album though.<br />This is a great sequel,<br />but if you have 9 years to create your sequel…,<br />you got to remember the first Chronic came out in 1992,<br />Chronic 2001 came out in 2000 and<br />Detox is still not out and we are nearing<br />20 years since the first one came out.<br /><br />Dre has only done 2 albums but I expect that this next one…,<br />some kind of way his albums meet expectations.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Absolutely.<br />So what caused you then to leave<br />Aftermath and what have you been up to since then?</a><br /><br />I wanted to strike out on my own and<br />I wanted to show that<br />I am a great producer without Dre.<br />People would always say oh you are<br />great when you are with Dre,<br />and that’s cool, I mean Shaq & Kobe,<br />when you are part of a team, you use teamwork.<br />But I wanted to get out on my own<br />and get out of the whole umbrella.<br /><br />Eminem came out and his lyrics…,<br />I used to have to listen to<br />my music in my car and study it.<br />I had a young daughter at the time<br />who would repeat everything that she<br />heard and I wanted to get away from the words<br />and gangster rap can be very sick and sinister.<br />I felt like at that time, that is not<br />the direction I wanted my music to go.<br /><br />So I decided to step away,<br />and I also had a medical situation and<br />I had to have brain surgery,<br />so that also made me step back for a bit,<br />and I also got involved in television.<br />I started composing for different shows,<br />but alot for the UPN Network back then.<br />I did all the shows on there,<br />I did Girlfriends, The Parkers, The Game,<br />not to mention network shows, Medium, NCIS,<br />you know all over the place.<br /><br />It was better for me because<br />I got away and I was able to put together a different,<br />but more stable type of life.<br />I ended up meeting my future wife and<br />having another child and ready got core<br />family values and that is what happened<br />to me and got me to step away from that.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">You are currently working with<br />a artist named Young Pistol.<br />What makes Young Pistol different from<br />the artists that you have worked with in the past?</a><br /><br />Aww Pistol!<br />I am actually working with another cat,<br />Pimpin Ten aka John Wayne.<br />Young Pistol is actually my prodigy and<br />I will be honest with you,<br />he reminds me of Kurupt.<br />I think he has a million lyrics and<br />he will freestyle anybody and go in a circle<br />until everyone is done with lyrics and just keep going.<br /><br />That is what I like about him<br />and cats are not doing that anymore.<br />You meet artists and they are about one thing,<br />they players, partying, banging,<br />and he is not about all of that.<br />Even though he grew up in the jungle,<br />the hood, he is a good kid.<br />Almost seems misplaced and he should<br />have been born on the east coast.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Being that you have worked with<br />so many west coast artists,<br />what are your feelings on this supposed<br />new west VS old west rivalry that is going on?</a><br /><br />I love the new west,<br />I don’t know where the term came<br />from but I like it.<br />New, young talent infused into west coast hip hop,<br />but I don’t know the whole old west,<br />new west seems to me that there is<br />some bitterness coming from the older guys<br />that are trying to not let go or something,<br />I don’t know man.<br /><br />When you are coming from the<br />perspective of a producer,<br />you can produce old west and new west.<br />If you are a rapper and you have what<br />people consider a old west sound,<br />that is what it is.<br />I can see Ice Cube’s point also and<br />I know he felt disrespected but also these kids<br />grew up listening to us and I think they have respect now.<br /><br />They may not always say it but alot of<br />them know they would not be rapping if<br />they daddy was not listening to<br />Ice Cube, NWA or Ice T, King T.<br />They would not even know how to make<br />these records and in LA there is a studio<br />on every street because we showed people<br />how to put a studio in their house.<br /><br />When I was coming up there was no<br />studios accessible like it is now.<br />I had to go the valley to work in a studio,<br />so yeah I believe in the new west and<br />I want to see someone come out and shine.<br />Like how Drake blew up and now he is everywhere,<br />I want someone from LA to come up and be that.<br /><br />I mean this is LA,<br />this is not some small market,<br />we need someone that will stand up and represent us.<br />New west, old west, it does not matter to me,<br />they just need to be tight.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Do you see any new artists out there now<br />that can step in and take that role?</a><br /><br />I will be honest with you,<br />I think Young Pistol could be something serious,<br />but there is so much politics out here.<br />Especially when your trying to<br />direct artists in the right direction<br />they need to be going, and that is causing alot<br />of good artists to fall by the wayside.<br />I remember when Glasses Malone<br />first came out and he is tight to me.<br />Guerrilla Black was cool,<br />and he could have been something,<br />but we don’t tend to work cohesively<br />with one another here on the west coast.<br /><br />We don’t get together and band behind something out here.<br />We are like the 5 boroughs but all separate.<br />We are not trying to come together like say a<br />New York does, we don’t do that.<br />You have Los Angeles, Compton, South Central, Watts,<br />you know that is really just one city.<br />I mean Compton has their own mayor but<br />it is really LA County, but yeah it is really<br />alot of separatism here where it should be more unity.<br /><br />I don’t think that it is ever going to change<br />and I think it is because of the diverse backgrounds<br />and where our parents were all from<br />different parts of the country,<br />nobody is really 2,3,4 generations<br />of grew up in Los Angeles.<br />They are 1 or 2 generations<br />removed from being somewhere else,<br />like I was born and raised here but<br />both my parents were from somewhere else.<br /><br />Once you have some generations that<br />grow up and go to school together,<br />then we will have more unity.<br />But until we get unity,<br />we will have division,<br />we will have old west VS new west,<br />how stupid is that?<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">In being that you are a producer,<br />besides the obvious changes in technology,<br />what do you feel about the production game<br />that has changed the most now as opposed to<br />10, 20 years ago and who are<br />you feeling as far as new producers?</a><br /><br />Well to answer your first question,<br />my first records,<br />I had to go to these lavish studios,<br />do all this work, spend all this money,<br />hire a engineer until I learned how to do it myself.<br />Now everything that I have is on my laptop,<br />including my pro tools,<br />which I can use without hardware.<br />I carry around 10 studios in one bag<br />and I really love that.<br /><br />If this had been out when I was young,<br />we would have changed the game 10, 20 times over.<br />It would be something completely different right now.<br />When I started producing,<br />they did not even really have MIDI,<br />it was just instruments being connected together.<br />Then MIDI came out and I grew up during<br />that whole development,<br />it might seem like a long time ago<br />but we are only talking about the 80′s.<br /><br />As far as producers,<br />I really have not kept up with alot<br />of producers that is new that stands out to me.<br />It seems like it is the same people<br />still out there doing it.<br />My favorite producer is Timbaland.<br /><br />Yeah he is up there for me also.<br />He is incredible.<br /><br />He is something else and he is the same way,<br />his studio is in his bag as well (laughs).<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">Last question for you,<br />if you had any advice to give to people<br />wanting to get into the music industry,<br />rappers or producers, what would you tell them?</a><br /><br />I would say before you get into the<br />music industry, you have to have<br />a certain type of mentality.<br />You have to be dedicated because people<br />will hate on you and no one will believe in you.<br />Could be your girl or someone else<br />giving you a hard time.<br />Definitely stay in school and finish school.<br />With the technology out now,<br />you can work on your music in your house<br />and put it up on I-Tunes for sale (laughs).<br /><br />I have songs for sale on Facebook,<br />but yeah it is so easy for people<br />to get their music out there<br />and for people to buy it.<br />If we could have went from the<br />roota to the toota like that and<br />sold records 10 years ago like that,<br />record companies would have BEEN out of business.<br />We were selling CDs literally out the trunk of cars,<br />now you can sell them out of your bag or your laptop?<br /><br />But the problem is,<br />people do not have enough cash<br />to promote and really develop their art<br />and their craft the way that they should.<br />It is just a whole bunch of junk that is out there,<br />there is good stuff out there,<br />but you have to shift through<br />all the other stuff to find it.<br />When I used to go a dig in the crates<br />for records when I was a DJ,<br />I would go through 70 records to find 1 dope one.<br /><br />The main thing I can say is be<br />tenacious with doing your craft.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">That is words of wisdom right there.<br />Alright well that is all<br />the questions I have for you,<br />appreciate you getting down for the interview.<br />Is there any last words or<br />shout-outs you want to get out there to the people?</a><br /><br />Yeah I just want to say what’s up<br />to anyone that I have ever worked with.<br />They know who they are and I also want to<br />say sorry it took so long for us to link up<br />for this interview but<br />I have been working but I am glad we linked up.<br />Everyone out there in the music world,<br />just keep working and hopefully things<br />will change and we will be<br />getting rich again like we was before.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">All good, well worth the wait.<br />I appreciate your time.</a><br /><br />VIA<br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/26/chris-the-glove-taylor-interview/">illuminati2g</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Related links;</span><br /><a href="http://fatcapmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/03/blast-from-past-part-3-ice-t-chris.html">Blast from the past part 3;<br />Ice T & Chris "The Glove" Taylor in Breakin' 'n' Enterin'</a><br />and<br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WV26D35V">Download the "Breakin’ ‘N’ Enterin’" documentary</a><br />and<br /><a href="http://fatcapmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/03/weekend-fun-part-4-jean-claude-van.html">Weekend fun part 5; Jean Claude Van Damme´s scene in Breakin´</a><br />and<br /><a href="http://fatcapmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/02/illuminati2g-interview-with-chris-glove.html">illuminati2g interview with Chris "The Glove" Taylor</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-90390606746070155312011-02-26T08:43:00.000-08:002011-02-26T08:49:14.270-08:00WC speaks on status of Westside Connection (2011)<a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/06/wc-interview/">Have you and Cube ever thought about<br />maybe getting together and maybe doing a duo album?</a><br /><br />We talked about it, but at the same time<br />we know that is close to being<br />a Westside Connection album.<br />It has to be something special as<br />opposed to me and Cube just doing a album together,<br />it has to be something special.<br />What I would do in a situation like<br />that is turn around and ask the fans,<br />besides just Dub and Cube rapping,<br />what would you want to hear?<br /><br />Would you want to hear us get political,<br />you want to hear some street shit,<br />would you want to hear a hip hop oriented album?<br />What kind of album would you be<br />looking for in todays time?<br />That is not a Westside Connection record.<br />Do you have the answer?<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/06/wc-interview/">I don’t have the answer.<br />I am still waiting on the reunion with<br />Mack 10, Ice Cube and WC.</a><br /><br />EXACTLY, the whole shebang.<br />I know everyone is out there doing<br />they own thing but that whole<br />Westside Connection situation,<br />I am not going to say the door is shut on it,<br />and I will keep it real with you in this interview,<br />the door is not shut on that at all,<br />you never know,<br />but right now I don’t see it happening.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/06/wc-interview/">I remember the track<br />Get Used To It came out with you,<br />Game and Ice Cube on Raw Footage and<br />there was even rumors of<br />Game joining Westside Connection.<br />I think those 3<br />in a group would be a incredible album,<br />just name the group something else.<br />There is no Westside Connection without Mack 10.<br />Have you guys ever talked about that?</a><br /><br />You know…, shit I ain’t mad at you.<br />I feel the same way but you can’t<br />dictate other peoples schedules,<br />Cube is a busy man and<br />Game is a individual that does Game.<br />He has alot of shit booked up as well.<br />I am always trying to make some<br />different shit happen so I don’t know<br />exactly what is going on with their scheduling.<br /><br /><a href="http://illuminati2g.com/site/2011/02/06/wc-interview/">Read rest of the interview over @ illuminati2g.com</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-75575369240566388552011-02-12T13:17:00.000-08:002011-02-12T13:19:40.521-08:00Diplomats Say Working With Dr. Dre Was ‘Humbling’“He definitely made me rap my verse like 33 times,”<br />Jones told MTV this past week about<br />working with the good doctor.<br />“It was cool. It was a great experience.”<br />Cam’ron also experienced Dre’s<br />penchant for perfectionism:<br />“He made me get out and do my verse over,”<br />he recalled.<br />“He’s real intricate.<br />Basically, he was like,<br />‘I want this kind of flow,’<br />and he’ll mumble it out,”<br />the slick-witted MC continued,<br />explaining the process. <br />"It was like, ‘Yo, go do that again; it’s terrible.’ ”<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.aftermathmusic.com/blog/2011/01/25/diplomats-say-working-with-dr-dre-was-humbling/">VIA<br />AfterMathMusic.com</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-66697258111104478702011-02-11T09:10:00.000-08:002011-02-11T09:16:33.807-08:00Unreleased Dr.Dre produced Above The Law tracks<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6ksXpe9V0DQx-IcraXEuauGNz1xSkSjZV1eW77GLt6U0dLejmu3dPd5vZc6cVqK_Yuv6QQ0nShxZdLTRwhlFRlptCfy-rfxblaVWZM9-tukgwFEYAJxmTrp-AWOtzZHOtjRx2qQEkqo/s1600/above+the+law+unreleased+dre+prod+track+070220115265.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 399px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu6ksXpe9V0DQx-IcraXEuauGNz1xSkSjZV1eW77GLt6U0dLejmu3dPd5vZc6cVqK_Yuv6QQ0nShxZdLTRwhlFRlptCfy-rfxblaVWZM9-tukgwFEYAJxmTrp-AWOtzZHOtjRx2qQEkqo/s400/above+the+law+unreleased+dre+prod+track+070220115265.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572481151534355602" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMLoZeN5Kl2VqXEnpL7-4_8vJ0sxmI0FoG71I8R1csgSOxqmFRiBfmp15GrUGZZgl4wvlPNERUSc3V6GmZjFLUCreJ10idiJuq_zy3Y-hV6SmRLkiVholf8_A3KYRu48PnNi_QOzO9TM/s1600/above+the+law+unreleased+dre+prod+track+070220115264.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMLoZeN5Kl2VqXEnpL7-4_8vJ0sxmI0FoG71I8R1csgSOxqmFRiBfmp15GrUGZZgl4wvlPNERUSc3V6GmZjFLUCreJ10idiJuq_zy3Y-hV6SmRLkiVholf8_A3KYRu48PnNi_QOzO9TM/s400/above+the+law+unreleased+dre+prod+track+070220115264.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572480979752009970" /></a><br />^click images to enlarge^<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Have-Gun-Will-Travel-Ronin/dp/0385491352/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297444437&sr=8-1">Page 60 & 61<br />From the Have Gun Will Travel book by Ronin Ro<br />Amazon link here.</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-64012930954746843732011-02-11T09:06:00.000-08:002011-02-11T09:09:36.067-08:00HHC/Hip Hop Connection review of Above The Law’s; Legends<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_auPWFZXxHNMVyOnp1O_NvGAASENvcETPYgpmz4JfjonjaaWKhI8AddWMNftpmz04ufnTRUlmeBxKjEgsn3O3cx9eBQ3D_JoPGOdBBCtpsrFZsn75lt8QLVcoXHtAo6RplF5b99TqLug/s1600/Legends+review.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 182px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_auPWFZXxHNMVyOnp1O_NvGAASENvcETPYgpmz4JfjonjaaWKhI8AddWMNftpmz04ufnTRUlmeBxKjEgsn3O3cx9eBQ3D_JoPGOdBBCtpsrFZsn75lt8QLVcoXHtAo6RplF5b99TqLug/s400/Legends+review.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572479738465298690" /></a><br />^click image to enlarge^<br /><br />HHC/Hip Hop Connection review of<br />Above The Law’s; Legends<br />HHC Rating 3/5Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-50598391057381276332011-02-02T09:48:00.000-08:002011-02-02T09:50:27.448-08:00The Game Confirms That Wu-Tang's RZA Filed Lawsuit Against "Heartbreaker"Exclusive: Game explains that he and RZA made a song that couldn't be used for "R.E.D.," but when it ended up on this week's mixtape, the Abbott started sending cease-and-desists.<br /><br /><br />Yesterday, HipHopDX spoke with Compton, California emcee Game about his just-released double mixtape Purp & Patron. After revealing that Nas is a fan of "The Kill" and how iconic deejay Funkmaster Flex got involved with the project, Game also confirmed reports that Wu-Tang Clan's RZA had sent a cease-and-desist to Game and the media over the song "Heartbreaker."<br /><br /><br />On Wednesday, January 26, 2011 Universal Music Publishing Group sent an "unauthorized use" letter on behalf of Robert Diggs (a/k/a RZA) to several media companies, including HipHopDX.com, asking for the removal of "Heartbreaker" from Purp & Patron, on behalf of the Wu's co-founder. The song has since been removed from the double-mixtape on DX. Yesterday, Game weighed in with what happened behind the scenes.<br /><br /><br />"I think RZA [is] tryin' to sue about ['Heartbreaker'] or somethin'," confirmed Game to HipHopDX yesterday. "That's fuckin' crazy. Like, I don't even know how RZA sues The Game." From Game's understanding, the song was an agreement. "He came to the studio and brought the ['Heartbreaker'] track to me. He's like, 'Yo Game, this is for you. You can have that.' Those are his words." Game also maintains that RZA's company on that day, Rev. Burke, was invited to rhyme on the record. "His boy spit crazy. I [rapped after] him."<br /><br /><br />Originally unsure what to do with the final product, the team learned that there were problems with the song's composition. "We found out that the sample was un-clearable," said Game about the Grand Funk Railroad song of the same name. "For anybody." In the rapper's eyes, that made the song unusable for his upcoming R.E.D. album. "So I threw it out [on a mixtape]. The next thing I know RZA is suing The Game. That shit's crazy. I didn't even know Wu-Tang sued niggas." Although the Aftermath Entertainment star was taken aback by the news, he says it's nothing personal. "I still got nothin' but respect for RZA [and] the whole Wu, and all of that. I'm good. I'm good friends with Ghostface [Killah] and [Raekwon] and Method [Man]. Those are my dudes. I would never speak down on RZA or any of those dudes for that matter - not that any of those dudes [have anything] to do with this conversation. But with the Wu, you gotta speak to a pack. It's all love." Last year, Game appeared on Ghostface Killah's album, Apollo Kids. On Game's last album, L.A.X., Raekwon appeared.<br /><br /><br />Although the song is presently an endangered species with Universal Publishing's cease-and-desist on behalf of RZA, Game remains complimentary of RZA's latest lyrical protege. "This dude Rev. Burke, he threw some shots out. He had a crazy lil' pimp swag. He had two girls with him; they were lookin' at this lil' nigga like he was Jesus and shit, while he was spittin' in the booth. I felt like when he was in the booth, that I was in the movie The Mack. This nigga was standin' there rockin' back and forth at the mic, and these chicks was dancin' slow and seductively. Shit was crazy."<br /><br /><br />VIA<br /><a href="http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.13856/title.game-confirms-that-wu-tangs-rza-filed-lawsuit-against-heartbreaker">HipHopDX</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-32063196601723646292011-01-15T19:48:00.000-08:002011-01-15T19:49:14.396-08:00Kool G. Rap Speaks On The Origins Of Gangster Rap<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xsIRWUaqcb4?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xsIRWUaqcb4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.vladtv.com/video/36378/exclusive-kool-g-rap-speaks-on-the-origins-of-gangsta-rap/">VIA<br />VladTV</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-40790189040732148382011-01-03T00:30:00.000-08:002011-01-03T00:35:13.122-08:00Daz speaks on Sam Sneed (Beatdown/Tumor rumors)<a href="http://www.thaformula.com/daz_dillinger_ambitionz_of_a_ridah_thaformula_music.html">ThaFormula.com;<br />Now why didn't Sam Sneed ever drop an album on Death Row?</a><br /><br />Daz Dillinger - East Coast /West Coast shit man, and he had a tumor 'cause Tupac and them beat the fuck out of him! That's why he got a tumor and damn near died. He quit. We had a meeting one day right after we got shot at and so Tupac said to Sneed, "you just shot a video right?" So he said "yeah." Pac said "well we're gonna sit down and see if any West Coast muthafuckas is in there, and each time we see a East Coast muthafucka we gonna knock you in your muthafuckin' head." So every time they would see a East Coast dude they would kick him in the ass and Budda, you know the producer, he a bitch too 'cause he sat there and watched Sam Sneed get beat up. Didn't say shit!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thaformula.com/daz_dillinger_ambitionz_of_a_ridah_thaformula_music.html">ThaFormula.com;<br />What would you have done in that situation Daz?</a><br /><br />Daz Dillinger - I would have got up and whooped somebody's ass. I had guns so I wasn't worried about what they were doing. Me and Nate Dogg were the only ones that would be strapped up in that muthafucka. 'Cause when we would have a meeting it would be Bloods and Crips in there so it's like shit, if we get to fighting up in this muthafucka just start shooting and run towards the door. And then you know Kurupt and Tupac got into it once. Tupac was gonna whoop the shit out of Kurupt in Cancun. Tell somebody to ask Kurupt was Tupac gonna beat your ass, and Daz and Nate Dogg saved you from getting your ass whooped from Tupac and them?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thaformula.com/daz_dillinger_ambitionz_of_a_ridah_thaformula_music.html">VIA<br />Tha Formula</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-25567555205766779782010-12-28T10:50:00.000-08:002010-12-28T10:53:18.821-08:00Kanye West My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy (album credits)1. Dark Fantasy<br />(K. West, R. Diggs, E. Wilson, J. Bhasker, M. Dean, M. Jones, J. Anderson, M. Oldfield)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Ramecca Music/Universal Music-Careers Publishing (BMI)/Let The Story Begin Publishing/Chrysalis Songs (ASCAP)/Way Above Music (BMI)|Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)/Copyright Control/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)/Opio Publishing (BMI), all rights administered by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)/Stage Three Songs (ASCAP) 0/b/o Stage Three Music Ltd. and Oldfield Music Ltd. (PRS)<br />Produced by The RZA, Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978 & No ID for Rich Daily Since 71<br />Additional production by Jeff Bhasker & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein at Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, CA and Platinum Sound Recording, NYC<br />Mixed by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions & Andrew Dawson at Platinum Sound Recording, NYC<br />Assisted by Gaylord Holomalia, Christian Mochizuki & Phil Joly<br />Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker<br />Piano: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Cello: Chris “Hitchcock” Chorney<br />Cello Arrangement: Jeff Bhasker & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Background Vocals: Nicki Minaj, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)<br />Additional Vocals: Teyana Taylor and Amber Rose<br />Nicki Minaj appears courtesy of Young Money/Universal Motown<br />Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) appears courtesy of Jagjaguwar Records<br />Teyana Taylor appears courtesy of Star Trak, LLC<br /><br />Contains samples of “In High Places” by Mike Oldfield, under license and courtesy of Mercury Records Limited. Written by Jon Anderson and Mike Oldfield and published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI) and Opio Publishing (BMI). All rights administered by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)/Stage Three Songs (ASCAP) o/b/o Stage Three Music Ltd. and Oldfield Music Ltd. (PRS). All Rights Reserved.<br /><br />2. Gorgeous feat. KiD CuDi & Raekwon<br />(K. West, E. Wilson, M. Dean, M. Jones, C. Smith, C. Woods, S. Mescudi, G. Clark, R. McGuinn)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc.(BMI)/Let The Story Begin Publishing/Chrysalis Songs (ASCAP)/Copyright Control/Universal Music-Careers (BMI)/Elsie’s Baby Boy Publishing (ASCAP)/Gene Clark Music (BMI) administered by Bug Music (BMI)/Chrysalis One Music Publishing Group, Ltd. (IMRO). All rights on behalf of Chrysalis One Music Publishing Group Ireland administered by Chrysalis One Songs (BMI)<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978, No ID for Rich Daily Since 71 & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer, Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions & Christian Mochizuki at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein & Phil Joly at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Mixed by Anthony Kilhoffer at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Assisted by Christian Mochizuki, Pete Bischoff & Phil Joly<br />Guitars, Bass, Organ: Ken Lewis<br />Keys, Drum Programming: Brent Kolatalo<br />Guitar Solo: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Cello: Chris “Hitchcock” Chorney<br />Background Vocals: Tony Williams<br />KiD CuDi appears courtesy of Universal Motown Records<br /><br />Contains portions of the composition “You Showed Me,” written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn, published by Gene Clark Music (BMI) administered by Bug Music (BMI). Used by permission. Contains elements of “You Showed Me” by Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark © 1965; Copyright Renewed. Chrysalis One Music Publishing Group Ireland, Ltd. (IMRO). All rights on behalf of Chrysalis One Music Publishing Group Ireland administered by Chrysalis One Songs (BMI). All Rights Reserved. Published by Horipro Entertainment Group Inc. d/b/a Sixteen Stars Music (BMI).<br /><br />3. POWER<br />(K. West, L. Griffin Jr., M. Dean, J. Bhasker, A. Gardner, K. Lewis, F. Bernheim, J. P. Lang, B. Bergman, R. Fripp, M. Giles, G. Lake, I. McDonald, P. Sinfield)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing|EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Vohndee’s Soul Music Pub. (ASCAP)/Papa George Music (BMI)/Way Above Music (BMI)|Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)/Dwele Music (ASCAP)/Kenobi Songs Pub. (BMI)/Warner Chappell Music France (SACEM)/EMI Music Publishing (ASCAP) administered by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)/Universal Music MGB NA LLC d/b/a Universal Music Careers (BMI)<br />Produced by S1 & Kanye West<br />Additional Production by Jeff Bhasker, Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions & Andrew Dawson<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI<br />Mixed by Manny Marroquin at Larrabee Studios, Los Angeles, CA<br />Assistant Mix Engineers: Christian Plata & Erik Madrid<br />Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Guitar & Bass: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Cello: Chris “Hitchcock” Chorney<br />Additional Vocals: Dwele<br />Chant Vocals: Alvin Fields & Ken Lewis<br />Engineered by Ken Lewis & Brent Kolatalo<br />Handclaps performed by Ian Allen, Wilson Christopher, Uri Djemal & Chris Soper<br />Dwele appears courtesy of E1 Music<br /><br />Contains elements from the Cold Grits recording “It’s Your Thing,” produced under license from Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company.<br /><br />Contains elements of “Afromerica” (Francois Bernheim/Jean-Pierre Lang/Boris Bergman) published by Warner Chappell Music France (SACEM)/EMI Music Publishing (ASCAP). All rights administered by WB Music Corp. (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.<br /><br />Contains material sampled from “21st Century Schizoid Man” performed by King Crimson Taken from the album: In The Court Of The Crimson King and composed by Fripp, McDonald, Lake, Giles & Sinfield (Universal Music Careers on behalf of E.G. Music Ltd. (BMI). Appears courtesy of DGM Ltd. on behalf of King Crimson.<br /><br />4. All Of The Lights (Interlude)<br /><br />5. All Of The Lights<br />(K. West, J. Bhasker, M. Jones, W. Trotter)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing|EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Way Above Music (BMI)|Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)/Copyright Control<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978<br />Co-Produced by Jeff Bhasker<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI & Noah Goldstein at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Rihanna’s vocals recorded by Marcos Tovar at Westlake Sound Studios, Los Angeles, CA<br />Mixed by Anthony Kilhoffer at Electric Lady Studios, NYC & Westlake Sound, West Hollywood, CA<br />Assistant Engineers: Christian Mochizuki, Pete Bischoff & Phil Joly<br />Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Piano: Elton John<br />Brass and Woodwinds: Danny Flam, Tony Gorruso & Ken Lewis<br />Horn Arrangement: Ken Lewis<br />Engineered by Brent Kolatalo<br />Orchestral Arranger & Conductor: Rosie Danvers<br />Producer: Tommy D.<br />Trumpets: Mike Lovatt, Simon Finch, Andy Gathercole<br />French Horns: Tim Anderson, Tom Rumsby, Richard Ashton<br />Trombone: Mark Frost, Philip Judge<br />Flute: Chloe Vincent<br />Violins: Kotono Sato, Jenny Sacha<br />Viola: Rachel Robson<br />Cello: Rosie Danvers, Chris “Hitchcock” Chorney<br />Cello Arrangement: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Additional Vocals: Rihanna, KiD CuDi, Tony Williams, The-Dream, Charlie Wilson, John Legend, Elly Jackson (La Roux), Alicia Keys, Elton John, Fergie, Ryan Leslie, Drake, Alvin Fields & Ken Lewis<br />KiD CuDi appears courtesy of Universal Motown Records<br />Charlie Wilson appears courtesy of Jive Records<br />John Legend appears courtesy of Getting Out Our Dreams/Sony BMG Music Entertainment<br />Elly Jackson (La Roux) appears courtesy of Interscope Records<br />Alicia Keys appears courtesy of J Records<br />Elton John appears courtesy of Mercury Records Limited<br />Fergie appears courtesy of Interscope Records<br />Drake appears courtesy of Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records<br /><br />6. Monster feat. JAY-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver<br />(K. West, S. Carter, P. Reynolds, M. Dean, W. Roberts, O. Maraj, J. Vernon, J. Bhasker)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/EMI April Music, Inc./Carter Boys Music (ASCAP)/Copyright Control/Copyright Control/First-N-Gold Publishing/Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)/Harajuku Barbie Music (BMI)/April Base Publishing (ASCAP)/Way Above Music (BMI)|Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978<br />Additional production by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions & Plain Pat<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI<br />Mixed by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Electric Lady Studios, NYC and Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, CA<br />Assisted by Gaylord Holomalia, Christian Mochizuki & Pete Bischoff<br />Piano: Jeff Bhasker<br />Background Vocals: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver)<br />Nicki Minaj appears courtesy of Young Money/Universal Motown<br />Bon Iver appears courtesy of Jagjaguwar Records<br /><br />7. So Appalled feat. Swizz Beatz, JAY-Z, Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi & The RZA<br />(K. West, E. Wilson, M. Dean, S. Carter, T. Thornton, C. Young, K. Dean, R. Diggs, M. Mann)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Let The Story Begin Publishing/Chrysalis Songs (ASCAP)/Copyright Control/EMI April Music, Inc./Carter Boys Music (ASCAP)/Neighborhood Pusha Publishing (BMI)/Bu Vision/Swizz Beats Publishing (SESAC)/Ramecca Music/Universal Music-Careers Publishing (BMI)/Scalehand Limited<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978 & No ID for Rich Daily Since 71<br />Co-Produced by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein & Pete Bischoff at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Mixed by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Assisted by Gaylord Holomalia, Christian Mochizuki & Pete Bischoff<br />Keyboards: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions & Jeff Bhasker<br />Cello: Chris “Hitchcock” Chorney<br />Cello Arrangement: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br /><br />Contains samples of the Manfred Mann’s Earth Band recording “You Are – I Am.” Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records Inc. by arrangement with Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company. Used courtesy of Creative Music Limited. Written by M. Mann, published by Scalehand Limited.<br /><br />8. Devil In A New Dress feat. Rick Ross<br />(K. West, R. Harrell, M. Dean, W. Roberts, M. Jones, C. King, G. Goffin)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing|EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/One Shot Deal Muzak (SESAC)/Copyright Control/First-N-Gold Publishing/Sony/ATV Songs, LLC (BMI)/Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI)<br />Produced by Bink! for One Shot Deal<br />Additional Production by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Mixed by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Assisted by Gaylord Holomalia, Christian Mochizuki & Pete Bischoff<br />Bass, Guitar & Piano: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br /><br />Contains samples of the recording “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” as performed by Smokey Robinson. Courtesy of Motown Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises. Used by permission. All rights reserved.<br />Written by C. King and G. Goffin, published by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI).<br /><br />9. Runaway feat. Pusha T<br />(K. West, E. Haynie, T. Thornton, J. Bhasker, M. Dean, M. Jones, J. Branch)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Heavycrate (ASCAP)/Sony ATV/Neighborhood Pusha Publishing (BMI)/Copyright Control/Way Above Music (BMI)|Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)/Metrolina Pub. Co. Inc. (BMI)<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978<br />Co-Produced by Emile, Jeff Bhasker & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI<br />Assisted by Christian Mochizuki<br />Mixed by Anthony Kilhoffer at Westlake Sound Studios, Los Angeles, CA<br />Assistant Mix Engineer: Cary Clark<br />Background Vocals: Tony Williams<br />Additional Vocals: The-Dream<br />Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker<br />Cello: Chris “Hitchcock” Chorney<br /><br />Contains a sample of “Expo 83” performed by Backyard Heavies, used courtesy of Gusto Records. Written by J. Branch and published by Metrolina Pub. Co. Inc. (BMI)<br /><br />Contains excerpts from Rick James ‘Live at Long Beach, CA’ 1981,<br />courtesy of Universal Music Enterprises. Used by permission. All rights reserved.<br /><br />10. Hell Of A Life<br />(K. West, M. Caren, E. Wilson, M. Dean, S. Stewart, T. White, T. Butler, A. Iommi, J. Osbourne, W. Ward)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Mike Caren Publishing Designee/Let The Story Begin Publishing/Chrysalis Songs (ASCAP) Papa George Music (BMI)/Clears Music, Inc. (BMI)/Combine Music Corp. (BMI)/Essex Music International<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978<br />Co-Produced by Mike Caren, No ID for Rich Daily Since 71 & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Mixed by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions, Anthony Kilhoffer & Andrew Dawson at Electric Lady Studios, NYC & Platinum Sound Recording, NYC<br />Assisted by Gaylord Holomalia, Christian Mochizuki & Pete Bischoff<br />Additional drum programming: Anthony Kilhoffer<br />Keyboards: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Additional Vocals: Teyana Taylor & The-Dream<br />Teyana Taylor appears courtesy of Star Trak, LLC<br /><br />Contains samples of the Mojo Men recording “She’s My Baby.” Produced under license from Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company. Written by Sylvester Stewart, published by Clears Music, Inc. (BMI). All Rights Reserved.<br /><br />Contains samples of the Tony Joe White recording “Stud-Spider.” Produced under license from Warner Bros. Records Inc. by arrangement with Rhino Entertainment Company, a Warner Music Group Company. Written by T. White, published by Combine Music Corp. (BMI).<br /><br />Contains portions of “Iron Man,” written by T. Butler, A. Iommi, J. Osbourne and W.T. Ward, published by Essex Music International.<br /><br />11. Blame Game feat. John Legend<br />(K. West, J. Franks, K. Mitchell, M. Dean, J. Stephens, R. James)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/J. Franks Publishing|WB Music Group (ASCAP)/Copyright Control/Copyright Control/John Legend Publishing/Cherry River Music Corp. (BMI)/Chrysalis Music Ltd. (PRS) administered by Chrysalis Songs (BMI)<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop since 1978 & DJ Frank E for Side 3 Entertainment<br />Additional Production by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein, Phil Joly & Ryan Gilligan at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Mixed by Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions, Andrew Dawson & Anthony Kilhoffer at Platinum Sound Recording, NYC<br />Piano & Bass: Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions<br />Cello played & arranged by Chris “Hitchcock” Chorney<br />Poem by Khloe Mitchell<br />Additional Vocals: Chris Rock and Salma Kenas<br />John Legend appears courtesy of Getting Out Our Dreams/Sony BMG Music Entertainment<br /><br />Contains elements of “Avril 14” by Richard James. Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd. (PRS) administered by Chrysalis Songs (BMI). All rights reserved.<br /><br />12. Lost In The World feat. Bon Iver<br />(K. West, J. Bhasker, M. DiBango, J. Brown, J. Vernon, G. Scott-Heron)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Way Above Music (BMI)/Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)/Universal Musica Inc. (ASCAP) o/b/o Universal Publishing SAS (SACEM)/Unichappell Music, Inc. (BMI)/Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI)/April Base Publishing (ASCAP)/Brouhaha Music (ASCAP)<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978<br />Co-Produced by Jeff Bhasker<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Mixed by Anthony Kilhoffer at Henson Studios, Los Angeles, CA<br />Assisted by Alex Graupera, Christian Mochizuki & Pete Bischoff<br />Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker<br />Additional Drum Programming: Anthony Kilhoffer<br />Additional Vocals: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Charlie Wilson, Kay Fox, Tony Williams, Alicia Keys, Elly Jackson (La Roux)<br />Tribal Drum Programming: Ken Lewis<br />Chant Vocals: Alvin Fields & Ken Lewis<br />Engineered by Brent Kolatalo<br />Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) appears courtesy of Jagjaguwar Records<br />Charlie Wilson appears courtesy of Jive Records<br />Alicia Keys appears courtesy of J Records<br />Elly Jackson (La Roux) appears courtesy of Interscope Records<br /><br />Contains portions of “Soul Makossa,” written by M. DiBango and published by Universal Musica Inc. (ASCAP) o/b/o Universal Publishing SAS (SACEM)<br /><br />Contains a sample of the recording “Think (About It)” as performed by Lyn Collins. Courtesy of Polydor Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Written by James Brown, published by Unichappell Music, Inc. (BMI) & Dynatone Publishing Co. (BMI). All rights administered by Unichappell Music, Inc. (BMI)<br /><br />Contains samples of “The Woods” performed by Bon Iver, used courtesy of Jagjaguwar, Inc. Written by Justin Vernon, published by April Base Publishing (ASCAP). All rights administered by Chrysalis Music (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.<br /><br />Contains samples of “Comment No. 1” performed by Gil Scott-Heron, used courtesy of Flying Dutchman. Written by Gil Scott-Heron, published by Brouhaha Music (ASCAP).<br /><br />13. Who Will Survive In America<br />(K. West, J. Bhasker, G. Scott-Heron)<br />Please Gimme My Publishing/EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)/Way Above Music (BMI)/Sony ATV Songs LLC (BMI)/Brouhaha Music (ASCAP)<br />Produced by Kanye West for Very Good Beats/Hip Hop Since 1978<br />Co-Produced by Jeff Bhasker<br />Recorded by Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer & Mike Dean for Dean’s List Productions at Avex Recording Studio, Honolulu, HI and Noah Goldstein at Electric Lady Studios, NYC<br />Mixed by Anthony Kilhoffer at Henson Studios, Los Angeles, CA<br />Assisted by Alex Graupera, Christian Mochizuki & Pete Bischoff<br />Keyboards: Jeff Bhasker<br />Additional Drum Programming: Anthony Kilhoffer<br />Additional Vocals: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Charlie Wilson, Kay Fox, Tony Williams, Alicia Keys, Elly Jackson (La Roux)<br />Tribal Drum Programming: Ken Lewis<br />Chant Vocals: Alvin Fields & Ken Lewis<br />Engineered by Brent Kolatalo<br />Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) appears courtesy of Jagjaguwar Records<br />Charlie Wilson appears courtesy of Jive Records<br />Alicia Keys appears courtesy of J Records<br />Elly Jackson (La Roux) appears courtesy of Interscope Records<br /><br />Contains samples of “Comment No. 1” performed by Gil Scott-Heron, used courtesy of Flying Dutchman. Written by Gil Scott-Heron, published by Brouhaha Music (ASCAP).<br /><br />DVD contains music from: "Dark Twisted", "Gorgeous", "POWER", "All Of The Lights", "Devil In A New Dress", "Runaway", "Hell Of A Life", "Blame Game", "Lost In The World"; and Mozart: "Lacrimosa (Requiem in D Minor, K626)". Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conducted by Sir Georg Solti. Performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker Choir: Konzertvereinigung WienerStaatsopernchor. Produced by Herbert Chappell, Franz Kabelka, Christopher Raeburn.<br /><br />Executive Producers: Shawn Carter, Kanye West, Gee Roberson & Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua<br />Executive Producer: Antonio “LA” Reid<br />A&R Direction: Patrick “Plain Pat” Reynolds and Don C.<br />A&R Administration: Terese Joseph<br />A&R Coordination: Leesa D. Brunson<br />Mastered by Vlado Meller at Universal Music Studios East, NYC<br />Marketing: Al Branch for Hip Hop Since 1978 and Tracey Waples<br />Marketing for Def Jam: Chris Atlas<br />Management: Hip Hop Since 1978<br />Legal Counsel: Alison K. Finley, David Rappaport and Bea Koramblyum for Davis Shapiro Lewit & Hayes, LLP<br />Art Direction: Kanye West and Virgil Abloh<br />Paintings by George Condo © 2010<br />Handwritten Titles and Illustrations: M/M (Paris)<br />Package Designed at M/M (Paris)<br />Kanye West Photograph: Fabien Montique<br />Artwork Coordination: JP Robinson, Kristen Yiengst and Todd Russell<br />DVD Coordination: Davina Gazo<br />Package Production: Doug Joswick<br />Sample Clearances: Eric Weissman Music Licensing, Inc.<br />Business Affairs: Randy McMillan, Antoinette Trotman, Ian Allen, Vol Davis III<br /><br />(P)© 2010 Roc-A-Fella Records, LLC. Manufactured and Marketed by The Island Def Jam Music Group, 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10019. Distributed by Universal Music Distribution. All rights reserved.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dubcc.com/forum/index.php?topic=257690.0">VIA<br />The Vault</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-23570751879993981432010-12-23T21:43:00.000-08:002010-12-23T21:46:49.322-08:00Kendrick Lamar speaks on Dre producing vocals<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3n0R27xUBXg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3n0R27xUBXg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br />starts at 3:38 to 5:23<br /><br /><a href="http://www.hiphopsite.com/2010/12/23/kendrick-lamar-talks-detox-compton-and-more-video/">VIA<br />HipHopSite.com</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-17256686461288710772010-12-18T23:35:00.000-08:002010-12-18T23:54:53.605-08:00West Coast Pioneers (Nice site that archives the early days of the West Coast scene)In the early 80´s the first Rap Artists entered the West Coast. Some moved across from the East Coast like the brothers Henry G, Evil E (later known as the NY City Spin Masters), Lil Rockin G or Afrika Islam and influenced the scene with the New York Rap Style. Others who started careers as D.J.´s began to add, instruments and raps to their performance like Dr. Dre or Egyptian Lover. Assisted by musicians like Daniel Sofer, Dave Storrs and Rich Cason the first productions made their way to vinyl which was often distributed by Macola Records. This section is dedicated to the West Coast Artists who lead the way for the whole genre. With biographies, interviews and a overview over their early productions this part of the side solves long time West Coast Riddles about the Pioneers in this game.<br /><br />Just click on names to go to the artist page.<br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/antron.html">Antron</a><br /><br />Following in the footsteps of DJ Swan from San Diego, and Grandmaster Flash (seen on tour at San Diego Sports Arena) Matic moved to LA and started out doing house party’s with Kid Frost, and rocked set’s at the Troubadour, Skate Ranch (Santa Ana), Pico Rivera Sports arena, World On Wheels and the Park Jams and swap meets. With the best mixed tapes circulating, he then Created LA’s first Mix Record 12” Scratch Matic “Sound Of The Street” which circulated in the late 80’s and was played late nights on KJLH. Next following in the footsteps of current LA turntable god Egyptian Lover. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/antron.html">More ...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/arabian-prince.html">Arabian Prince</a><br /><br />Before Arabian Prince officially started recording, he found his way in Los Angeles' electro movement and was soon added to the famous Uncle Jamms Army. Through the group, Arabian met with many ground-breaking musicians such as Ice-T, Egyptian Lover, The Spin Masters, DJ Pooh, DJ Slip, and many more. During his stay with UJA (Uncle Jamms Army), he saw the huge parties hosted throughout Southern California. Around 1983 or 1984, Arabian met with enter- tainer Russ Parr (Bobby Jimmy) and soon became part of the group Bobby Jimmy and the Critters in 1984. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/arabian-prince.html">More ...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/bobby-jimmy.html">Bobby Jimmy</a><br /><br />In the mid 80's Russ owned and ran his own recording label, Rapsur Records. He eventually signed with Eazy E's Ruthless Records and his alter ego Bobby Jimmy was produced by the likes of Dr Dre and DJ Pooh. Bobby Jimmy and the Critters sold millions of records. "Big Butt", "Hair or Weave", "We like ugly women" and "Roaches" were some of his biggest hits. Although Russ started out behind the camera at ABC TV as Production Services Director, stand up comedy was one of his first passions. His very first performance on stage was opening up for Joan Rivers in Santa Monica, California. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/bobby-jimmy.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/chris-the-glove-taylor.html">Chris "The Glove" Taylor</a><br /><br />Chris "The Glove" Taylor worked for a Disco Rental Service before he reached one of the DJ pioneers on the West Coast. Because of the heavy worker Gloves he weared while working, the Disco Manager gave him the DJ Name "The Glove". The Glove and Egyptian Lover were the local DJ´s at the famous Radio Club which later renamed to the Radiotron. Together with Ice T and Super A.J. they formed the Radio Crew. The Crew put out one of the rarest EPs in Hop-Hop history for the documentary "Breaking And Entering" which was produced by Topper Carrew back in 1983 showing the early West Coast Rap and Breakdance Movement. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/chris-the-glove-taylor.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/cli-n-tel.html">Cli-N-Tel</a><br /><br />Along with his cousin Richard Davis (a.k.a D.J Clout/Richie Rich) and his friend Roderick Wilson (a.k.a Midnight) he formed a group called "The Three Rappa-teers". They performed at clubs, parties and in contests in the L.A. and Compton areas. While performing at a contest in the Ujima Village Child Care Center, they were approached by Disco Daddy from the famed duo Disco Daddy and Captain Rap of Rappers Rapp Disco Co.. Disco Daddy became their manager and mentor. After a stint with this group, Cli-N-Tel went on to form a rap/DJ crew called “The Invasion Force”. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/cli-n-tel.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/daniel-sofer.html">Daniel "Perfect Tommy" Sofer</a><br /><br />In the year 1983 Daniel Sofer first met Cletus Anderson from Saturn Records who heard one of his demos. He did some sessions for Saturn with his Oberheim gear and was the musical mastermind behind Ice T´s "Coldest Rapp", "Scratch Motion", "Rhythm Rock Rap" and Unknown DJ´s "100 Speakers". He invited Unknown to Oberheim´s studio to record some scratches for the DMX. Unknown and he ended up doing a bunch of tracks together. He also met Lonzo Williams through Cletus and worked with him on productions like "Surgery" and "Juice" for the World Class Wreckin Cru.<a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/daniel-sofer.html"> More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dave-storrs.html">Dave Storrs</a><br /><br />In 1984 Dave Storrs first came in contact with the upcoming Rap Scene by visiting the famous Radio Club. He was fascinated from this new form of music with DJ´s scratchin records and Mc´s doin their live performance. In the Radio he first met DJ Pepo who worked for JDC Records and has a good contact to the street scene. Pepo introduced Dave to Kid Frost, Ice T and the Spinnmaster and they ended in Dave´s garage studio recording tracks like "Rough Cut", "Terminator", "Body Rock" and "Brothers" on their new foundet record label Electrobeat. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dave-storrs.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dwayne-simon-muffla.html">Dwayne Simon "Muffla"</a><br /><br />Dwayne Simon who is Roger Claytons cousin was one of the original members of Uncle Jamms Army. Beside the famous UJA productions he also had a few independent releases like Def and Defiance "Wild Wild West" and Double D "Autobotic Body Rock". A part of the Army later became the L.A. Posse a based hip hop production team that first rose to prominence in 1987 when Def Jam founder Russell Simmons signed them to produce LL Cool J's breakthrough album "Bigger and Deffer". The team was made up of Dwayne "Muffla" Simon, Darryl "Big Dad" Pierce, Bobby "Bob Cat" ErvIn and Mark "DJ Pooh" Jordan. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dwayne-simon-muffla.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dr-dre.html">Dr. Dre</a><br /><br />Dre's musical career began as a DJ at Los Angeles dance club, Eve After Dark. There he would splice up a mix of new records with soul classics like Martha And The Vandellas. The club had a back room with a small four-track studio where he, together with future-N.W.A. member Yella and Lonzo Williams, would record demos. The first of these was "Surgery" , a basic electro track with a chorus of "Calling Dr Dre to surgery'. These sessions, and nights at Eve After Dark, taught him the turntable techniques he would later bring to N.W.A., after he was a member of the World Class Wreckin Cru at the age of 17. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dr-dre.html">More... </a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dupont.html">Dupont</a><br /><br />The name Dupont who appeared on the Rainbow Television Documentary Breaking & Entering from 1983 was a long time mistery. He did three songs for this documentary called "Burn", "Break Dancers" and "Let´s rock". Filled with vocoder voices and Electro Beats they were ahead of their time. Only produced for this documentary, which shows Ice T, Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Egyptian Lover in the Radio Club, the tracks never made it to vinyl. The original recordings to the soundtrack are held by Topper Carrew´s movie company. Soon after this Dupont left Los Angeles and moved to Europe where he worked together with Milli Vanilli. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/dupont.html">More...<br /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/egyptian-lover.html">Egyptian Lover</a><br /><br />Egyptian Lover started as a DJ for Roger Clayton´s Uncle Jamms Army back in the early 80´s. Egypt´s turntable routines were legendary and Roger was the best programmer to get the party jumpin. In 1983 Egypt released his first record to the "Breakin an Entering" dokumentary together with Ice T and The Glove pressed only 25 times. In 1984 he had a big part in the production to "Dial-a-Freak" the first 12inch from Uncle Jamms Army on the Freak Beat Label. In the same year he released the West Coast Anthem "Egypt, Egypt" on the Freak Beat label. After the mayor success with this record Egypt founded his own label Egyptian Empire.<a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/egyptian-lover.html"> More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/grandmaster-lonzo.html">Grandmaster Lonzo</a><br /><br />Music producer, entertainer, and club owner "Grandmaster" Lonzo began his career in the late 70's forming Z-Car Promotions with Roger Clayton. The two set up events and parties before spliting (Roger would later create Uncle Jamm's Army). Next Lonzo created a disco, funk, and dance mobile DJ party crew called Disco Construction and the Wreckin' Cru. At the same time Lonzo ran several clubs in the South Los Angeles area such as Dudo's and Eve after Dark. The establishment of the first large urban independent record manufacturer and distributor, Macola Records, led Lonzo to create Kru Cut Records. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/grandmaster-lonzo.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/greg-mack.html">Greg Mack</a><br /><br />KDAY was the first radio station in the world to play rap/hip hop 24/7. It was Greg Mack that started it in July 1983. To understand how he did that you have to understand where he started...KTSA/KTFM, San Antonio, Tx. is where his career began in 1975 as an intern... In 1983, he was offered a gig at KDAY-L.A., his dream market. Jack Patterson gave him a shot...He couldn't believe it...working w/Ed Kerby, JJ Johnson, Russ Parr, Lisa Canning...they had so much talent there. Imagine if your "street team" consisted of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Battlecat, Tony G, DJ M Walk, Julio G, Ice-T, Kid Frost, Egyptian Lover, Rodney O & Joe Cooley. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/greg-mack.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/henry-g.html">Henry G</a><br /><br />Henry “HEN GEE’ Garcia, a consistent driving force in the Hip Hop Movement for more than two decades, coming from the hard core streets. Early on, HEN GEE realized his driving passion was Hip Hop. After arriving, HEN met with Greg Mack – Program Director for L.A. Hip-Hop station K-Day – and introduced Greg to the Latino & Hip Hop street sounds that he developed from his Central Latin African Honduran roots mixed with his East Coast vibe. Soon HEN GEE and brother Evil E joined forces with renegade rapper / actor ICE-T, becoming a very visual force at the forefront of the West Coast Movement. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/henry-g.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/ice-t.html">Ice T</a><br /><br />Ice T did his first record "Coldest Rapp" on the Saturn label back in 1982 at the age of 23. He was one of the mayor rapper in the Disco Radio along with Henry G and DJ´s like Chris "the Glove" Taylor and Egyptian Lover. In 1983 director Topper Carrew produced a doku- mentary bout the Radio Club called "Breakin and Entering". For this early piece of West Coast History Ice T, Egyptian Lover and Chris "the Glove" Taylor recorded 5 songs which were released on the legendary "Radio Crew EP". In 1984 Ice T met DJ Pepo and Dave Storrs at the Radio who run one of the first West Coast Label called Electrobeat Records. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/ice-t.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/jay-king.html">Jay King</a><br /><br />In 1984 Jay King moved from Alaska to Los Angeles. One year later he released his first record called Frost "Battle Beat" on the Triangel label, followed by the song "Woo Baby". The productions "The Freak" and "Earthshake" on the same label were only done as Test- pressings. 1986 he released several songs on his own label Jay Records like Active Boys "Hey Jo D.J." and the well known song Timex Social Club "Rumors". With the sucess of this record Jay King changed his music style from Electro Rap to more dance orientated songs. 1986 he founded "Club Nouveau", perhaps one of the most distinctive ... <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/jay-king.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/juan-g.html">Juan G</a><br /><br />DJ Juan Gibson representing Los Angeles/Australia made a name for himself with mixed tapes in the early 80´s. Soon he formed a group called the Funk Army with DJ Antron and created the 12inch records "Tha Swami" (1984) and "Rappin Man" (1985) both released on William Walkers "On the Spot" label. DJ Juan G came in 2nd place at the Radiotron's Dj battle contest only beaten by his good friend Antron. Juan loaned Arabian Prince his 808 for Bobby Jimmy's Big Butt 12" and did studio work in Compton and Los Angeles before relocating to Australia for 6 years where he did live shows at his own club with W.C., Ice Cube, and Wycleff Jean. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/juan-g.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/kid-frost.html">Kid Frost</a><br /><br />Kid Frost was a pioneer in the field of Latin hip-hop, cutting some of its very first records and helping to bring exposure to other bilingual MCs. He spent some time with his family on military bases in Guam and Germany, he was raised primarily in East L.A. He started rapping in 1982, and became an accomplished breakdancer as well, joining the top-notch Uncle Jamm's Army crew. He adopted the name Kid Frost in tribute to Ice-T, whom he often battled at parties and clubs as the West Coast hip-hop scene was first taking shape. During this era, he released several 12" singles, including "Rough Cut" (with Wreckin Cru´s DJ Yella) and "Terminator". <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/kid-frost.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/king-mc.html">King M.C. </a><br /><br />King Mc started doing freestyle raps under the name Rockin Ralph to Sugar Hill Gang´s "Rappers Delight" in 1979. In 1981 Duffy Hooks the owner of Rappers Rapp Disco Co. held auditions in Hollywood for a 6 member act modeled after New York's Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five. After an open casting call in Los Angeles, Duffy had narrowed it down to the six finalest's. The Rappers Rap Group consisted of King MC, Macker Moe, MC Fosty, Lovin C and DJ Flash.Their first release was "Rappers Rapp Theme" in 1982. One year later the group name changed to Dark Star and they signed to AVI Records and produced the 12inch Dark Star "Sexy Baby". <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/king-mc.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/lemon-lime.html">Lemon Lime</a><br /><br />Lemon Lime born 1963 began his musical carreer at the age of 10 by writing lyrics and performing in various talent shows and clubs. By the age of 16 he had his own dance production. 1983 he produced his first record Lemon Lime "Hollyweird Game" released on the Jam Power label. In the same year he, D-Rock, Mr. J, Cassonova Malone and J- Bone formed the West Coast Crew. The first record by the West Coast Crew with "Jealous People", "We really like to rock" and "Wild" was only done as a demonstration copy puplished on the Jam Power label in 1984. Soon after that the West Coast Crew signed to K.M.A. Records. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/lemon-lime.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/little-rockin-g.html">Lil Rockin G</a><br /><br />Gerald Burton known as Lil Rockin G was influenced by Grandmaster Flash and the Breakout Crew who lived in his neighborhood in New York. In the early 80´s Gerald moved to Los Angeles and made his name as a DJ in Benning highschool. The same highschool Boogaloo Shrimp visited. There he met C-Brez, Curtis and Madmixer RMG. Toghether they founded the Knights of the Turntables named after Cameo´s "Knights of the Soundtable" album. Curtis worked for JDC Records which was the biggest record distributor at that time. Jim Callon the owner of JDC asked him if he knew anybody who can help him doing a Hip Hop record. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/little-rockin-g.html">More... </a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/lyrrad.html">Lyrrad</a><br /><br />Darryl Davis started as a graffitti artist back in the 70´s. At that time he did several flyers and promotion material for clubs and discos. He first came in contact with the rap scene by doin the Coverwork for the first World Class Wreckin Cru record "Slice". After this he worked on drawings for West Coast Classics like World Class Wreckin Cru´s "Sugery", "Juice", "Bust it up", Unknown DJ´s "808 Beats", "Let´s Jam", "Breakdown" and many many more. Also he was the Mastermind behind the Kru-Cut, Techno Hop and Ruthless Logo. Beside his famous layout work he played the bassline parts in "808 Beats" and "Let´s Jam". <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/lyrrad.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/mikel-hooks.html">Mikel Hooks</a><br /><br />Mikel Hooks negotiated his first record deal with Atlantic Records for his artist, Ironing Board Sam, title song "Non Support That What the Judge Say". In May 1974, Mike put together a dance group, The Ghetto Dancers. In June 1982, Mikel started the record company, Street People Records, which produced the hit song titled, West Coast Poplock, which became the west coast´s "anthem". Just about anywhere you´d go you would hear the sing-along chorus of "California knows how to party." Two years later he produces the song "Going Down" with Rich Cason.<a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/mikel-hooks.html"> More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/rich-cason.html">Rich Cason</a><br /><br />Rich Cason started his own record label Write On together with Jimmy Lewis in 1983. The label released a huge hit when Rich wrote and produced "Killer Groove" and “Street Freaks” for Leon Kittrell & Formula V. The product was barely pressed when MCA and Malaco Records commissioned these dance grooves. Many of Rich’s club hits were produced as Rich Cason and the Galactic Orchestra, and released on Rappers Rapp Records. The large amount of songs included "Space Connection 2012", "Radio Activity", "When Doves Cry Rap", "Magic Mike Theme" and a track still playing on the airwaves, “Bad Times” by Captain Rapp. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/rich-cason.html">More... </a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/rodney-o.html">Rodney O</a><br /><br />Rodney O first appeard in 1983 as a member of the Caution Crew. They did two songs on the small Galleon Label called "Westside Storie" and "Rhythm Rock". In 1986 he worked with Egyptian Lover for the title "These are my beats" on Egypt´s label Egyptian Empire. Together with his partner Joe Cooley he released several titles on Egyptian Empire like "Everlasting Bass" and "This is for the Homies". In the early to mid-'80s, L.A. wasn't famous for hardcore rap; many people associated Southern California with the high-tech, synthesizer-driven electro-hop sounds of the Egyptian Lover, the Arabian Prince. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/rodney-o.html">More ...<br /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/roger-clayton.html">Roger Clayton</a><br /><br />Roger Clayton began spinning records and throwing house parties at 13. He worked as a deejay at several clubs and held a succession of jobs at records stores and in sales for a wholesale record company. Together with his school buddy Gid Martin he founded the DJ group Unique Dreams Entainment back in 1978. In 1983 they changed the name to Uncle Jamms Armyinspired by George Clinton´s album "Uncle Jam wants you". At that time Rap hits the West Coast and the Uncle Jamms Parties went bigger and bigger. In 1984 the Army filled stadiums like the L.A. Sports Arena. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/roger-clayton.html">More...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/silky-d.html">Silky D "Female Power"</a><br /><br />Delphine "Silky D" Williams is a diamond in the smooth. An L.A. original and iconic presence as the innovative and pioneering female DJ that broke barriers and laid serious groundwork in the streets, clubs and airwaves of Los Angeles for all young girls to follow. Silky "D" was the only female DJ to be down with the legendary West Coast party crew, Uncle Jamms Army, and provided the unforgettable background noises for 80's classics, "Dial a Freak" and "808 Beats". DJ Silky "D" went on to become one of the first female sound and stage managers in the game, providing sound for such renowned talents as Teena Marie, The Gap Band, Zapp, Cameo, Ice Cube, Monica and Da Brat, to name a few. <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/silky-d.html">More ...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/rodney-o.html">Tony DJ "T" Joseph</a><br /><br />From DJ to Producer, from A&R to executive, Joseph has played a crucial role in the development and expansion of the Global Urban Music Scene. Originally from East Elmhurst, New York (aka "The Hurst") the talented and ambitious young man once known as DJ "T" helped establish the Mix Show concept as a bi-coastal radio personality and Master Mixer. From 1981-1986 Tony Joseph and Michael Moore had the highest rated radio shows in Los Angeles on KJLH and KACE. The shows were called "The Saturday Night Jam" ,"The Traffic Jam", and "L.A. Sunday". DJ "T" went on to become visionary record executive Tony Joseph, helping to launch such musical talents as Vanessa Williams and Tony! Toni! Tone! <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/rodney-o.html">More ...</a><br /><br /><a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/unknown-dj.html">Unknown DJ</a><br /><br />The Unknown DJ, born Andre Manuel, is one of the pioneers of West Coast Hip Hop. He started as a DJ back in the early 80´s spinning records in Clubs like Lonzo´s "Eve after Dark". 1983 he first appeared on Captain Rapp`s "Bad Times" produced by Cletus Anderson who was the owner of Saturn Recods. On the same label he did his first rappin with Dr. Dre and Daniel Sofer for the title "Rhythm Rock Rap" in 1984. Daniel Sofer was the musical mastermind behind this production and shortly after this Unknown hired him to work on the first track recorded on his own Techno Hop label called "Beatronic". <a href="http://westcoastpioneers.com/artists/unknown-dj.html">More...</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3922963119944796795.post-75241974233577560832010-12-18T16:51:00.000-08:002010-12-18T17:50:10.623-08:00Shock G Breaks Down Digital Underground's Entire Catalogue, 2Pac & More<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhy5SgLUp2jUHoso1cxN61lfzSNsVpgjv45HWgCGO7E9D_obQKArScBjgzfkrGo7Qj5g3Y17kKhPSdQcLR3Cz3KlnYOSRKISnwznRoNNTuQ3P6LQ8nsXRxpQE0__oeYheFZYkXYFdXR8/s1600/shockg.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhy5SgLUp2jUHoso1cxN61lfzSNsVpgjv45HWgCGO7E9D_obQKArScBjgzfkrGo7Qj5g3Y17kKhPSdQcLR3Cz3KlnYOSRKISnwznRoNNTuQ3P6LQ8nsXRxpQE0__oeYheFZYkXYFdXR8/s400/shockg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552190044064816770" /></a><br /><br />Gregory “Shock G” Jacobs is having a moment.<br />During the interview, the musical mastermind behind<br />the Oakland-based rap-funk outfit Digital Underground<br />literally breaks down in tears.<br />“I’m sorry,” he says with a quiver in his voice.<br />“But I just get so emotional thinking about the past.<br />I’m so happy that people are finally paying attention to my work.”<br />By all accounts, Shock G should be a broken man.<br />This decade has seen the gifted producer and<br />musician battle drug addiction and money woes.<br />Yet, the New York-born musical visionary,<br />who first found platinum success with Digital Underground’s<br />genre-challenging 1990 classic debut<br />Sex Packets, has risen above it all.<br />He is again clean, focused and musing over<br />the origin of his Humpty Hump alias—a genius concoction<br />that propelled D.U.’s massive crossover hit “The Humpty Dance.”<br /><br />Shock G is still a fan and student of music who gets<br />audibly excited when he speaks of working with his hero<br />Parliament Funkadelic bandleader George Clinton.<br />When the subject turns to his late friend and<br />brother-in-spirit 2Pac, he talks with pride of producing<br />some of the larger-than-life icon’s most seminal work.<br />There is even an infectious optimism expressed<br />when he discusses his own recording future.<br />Indeed, Shock G is more than a survivor.<br />He is triumphant.<br />And he is alive to tell the tale.<br />—Keith Murphy<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXr3fq2u5sFbLklPOSJUdarZi6sDYsqBa1L1bDqVVzQjhWVc-XvZz1baQbJQ8ADP5evJPddhd8dpE7qzXCGhegXEBDr-AtmhBL1sW-VlFiQ3L-JBs92Y3M77BB1UwWOw0-Sa-EDUMHSY/s1600/DULifes+like+A+Cartoon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaXr3fq2u5sFbLklPOSJUdarZi6sDYsqBa1L1bDqVVzQjhWVc-XvZz1baQbJQ8ADP5evJPddhd8dpE7qzXCGhegXEBDr-AtmhBL1sW-VlFiQ3L-JBs92Y3M77BB1UwWOw0-Sa-EDUMHSY/s400/DULifes+like+A+Cartoon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552191491199988338" /></a><br /><br />"Your Life's A Cartoon"--Digital Underground (1988)<br /><br />“I’m from New York, but I grew up in Tampa Bay, Florida.<br />The difference is New York moved with the times.<br />As a city, it embraced disco more than the south did.<br />By the time hip-hop started becoming popular,<br />they abandoned that old funk sound.<br />Meanwhile in Tampa, the top records every year on<br />the radio were always Parliament Funkadelic.<br />They loved other funk bands too, but especially P-Funk.<br />New York pretty much went all the way up to<br />‘Flash Light’ and that was it.<br />Stuff like ‘Aqua Boogie’ and ‘(Not Just) Knee Deep’ and even<br />‘Atomic Dog’ were not as huge in New York as [Chic’s] ‘Good Times.’<br />P-Funk was everything to us.<br />All it took for me was someone telling me,<br />‘Did you know ‘Flash Light’ and<br />‘One Nation Under A Groove’ were made by the same group?’<br /><br />By 1980, I started really getting into P-Funk.<br />I was 16. At the same time,<br />I had already lived in New York when Hip Hop was starting.<br />I left NYC in ’78, so I was in that younger crowd of Hip Hop fans.<br />I was there for the DJ’s in the park at the jams,<br />so when I moved to Florida we kept that Hip Hop connection going.<br />I had my own crew in Tampa Bay…an MC from Brooklyn,<br />and another cat from New York.<br />We would send my cousins the tapes of what we were<br />doing and they would send us tapes back like,<br />‘You missed Fantastic 5 MC’s vs.<br />Grandmaster Flash and Busy B was hosting!’<br />I had one foot in hip-hop being a DJ<br />and the other foot in P-Funk.<br />I was a self-taught musician on piano,<br />but a lot of older cats and blues dudes<br />would give a me a tip here and there.<br /><br />At around 23, I started to do less MCing and more playing.<br />I learned from copying records for my bands.<br />Playing instruments was something you didn’t see in hip-hop.<br />And on top of that, I was a huge Prince fan.<br />I loved that he did it all in the studio by himself.<br />When we first started Digital Underground,<br />we were trying to be like what Public Enemy would later become.<br /><br />But P.E. was way better than us [laughs].<br />Me and my partner Kenny K were Stokely Carmichael fanatics.<br />I used to be that cat that walked around in berets.<br />We just wanted to do something heavy.<br />The way we were thinking was,<br />‘We are going to have to bomb a courthouse one day…[laughs]’<br />So in hindsight, I’m glad music saved me from being<br />that hardcore revolutionary because Funkadelic’s message was always,<br />‘Free your mind and your ass will follow.’<br />I adapted that philosophy for Digital Underground<br />from (P-Funk band leader) George [Clinton].<br /><br />Kenny and I had gone through two or three different<br />group names and had been on Battle of the Jams<br />together on the radio station…we had history.<br />Jimmy (Chopmaster J) on the other hand was<br />somebody I just met when I moved to Oakland<br />right before Digital Underground started.<br />He was the guy with a lot of connects.<br />I was a salesman at a music store and in 1987<br />I recorded a couple of demos,<br />just shit I wanted to do to send to my homies.<br />I left the masters in Jimmy’s 4-track cassette.<br />He sent those tracks behind my back to his<br />high school buddy Darryl who was in LA working at Mocola Records.<br /><br />He just wanted to see what the songs would do.<br />Their response was,<br />‘This is great…this is the new sound that’s on the radio…<br />we can do something with this…we want to bring you to LA to record.’<br />That’s how Jimmy became a member of the group.<br />And that was the beginning of how Digital Underground’s first single<br />‘Your Life’s a Cartoon.’<br />Funny thing is when they told me about the<br />trip to LA I quit my job.<br />I even made a big announcement to my family like,<br />‘Yeah…I have record coming out!’ But it didn’t go down.<br />I had to go beg for my job back [laughs].<br />There were some other label deals that fell through.<br /><br />So by the time I met Antron Gregory,<br />who was NWA’s road manager and<br />went on to become 2Pac’s manager,<br />I was no longer making any big announcements<br />to my family that I had a record coming out.<br />I was looking like an idiot.<br />So Antron was the one who really made it happen for us;<br />we ended up with [a deal with TNT/Macola Records].<br />As for the ‘Your Life’s a Cartoon’ album cover,<br />like most of our albums I did the artwork.<br />P-Funk might have gave me the<br />courage to use drawings instead of photos,<br />but the style of my drawings came much more from<br />humorist stuff like Mad Magazine and also the Pink Panther cartoon.<br />P-Funk’s art was much more serious.<br />At the time of ‘Your Life’s a Cartoon’<br />I didn’t really have a pride thing yet going with music.<br />It was just a fun thing to do.<br />My whole thinking was, ‘This is bugged out…<br />I know P-Funk fans are going to like this!’”<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrirJJ-__k06XNEz4xkB-OEYilwGHzhSFWCbO1tzD8oRCOaZDttjyZKJlhmE9SNwC3s0fpOS1MbIAEX0IU2ITySlizQov17kcUK8pY2e6_shweo8eZxoKXFdvlbMxtOsXznJ5rbxhPYfQ/s1600/Doowutchyalike.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 356px; height: 355px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrirJJ-__k06XNEz4xkB-OEYilwGHzhSFWCbO1tzD8oRCOaZDttjyZKJlhmE9SNwC3s0fpOS1MbIAEX0IU2ITySlizQov17kcUK8pY2e6_shweo8eZxoKXFdvlbMxtOsXznJ5rbxhPYfQ/s400/Doowutchyalike.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552193663849239058" /></a><br /><br />"Doowutchyalike"--Digital Underground (1989)<br /><br />“We were at 18,000 copies with ‘Your Life’s a Cartoon.’ The rule at that time was if you did close to 20,000 copies independently that transferred to gold or platinum with major label promotion. So Antron is shopping us and at one point he’s like, ‘I have three companies interested in y’all. Virgin, Warners and Tommy Boy.’ And we all went, ‘Tommy Boy?!!!’ Being a New York-based hip-hop label, we thought that was an honor being a group from California. We thought they knew what the fuck to do with rap records…De La Soul was there, so was Stetsasonic and Queen Latifah…they had great acts.<br /><br />You have to understand where a song like "Doowutchyalike” came from. I grew up in a household where my parents threw big parties. The whole neighborhood would always come over. I had everybody in the projects coming to the ‘burbs [laughs]. So when it was time to record ‘Doowutchyalike’ I just felt like the song was all about having a good time and breaking all the rules in hip-hop. You are not allowed to bite, so let’s bite on purpose. Let’s talk about stuff that no one talks about. So with the video, it was my idea to say let’s not shoot a traditional clip. Let’s film an actual party and get the shots where we are mouthing the words to the song when needed. It was a three-day party at a hotel in downtown Oakland. Between us and our friends promoting the party with flyers we ended up with over 100 people there. The scenes where everybody is knocked out in the bed, that’s really going on.<br /><br />By this time Digital Underground was coming together. Kenny K was our DJ when we first signed to Tommy Boy, but the label was like, ‘We like the demo, but we want to see you live.’ Unfortunately, Kenny was in Tampa dealing with some family shit when we had to do the showcase. This was happening all the time ‘til the other cats in the group were getting pissed at Kenny. That’s why he ended up out of the group. So I was like, ‘Damn, I need a DJ and Tommy Boy is giving us three days to do a show.’ Again Jimmy, who was good for hooking us up with shit, was messing with this girl who said she knew a DJ that was pretty good. It was DJ Fuze, but back then he was known as DJ Goldfinger.<br /><br />So Fuze showed up on the strength of liking ‘Life’s a Cartoon’ and my rhyming, which he thought was good. He showed up with a couple of crates of records and tapes and put on this whole display for us. He was totally about it…he was completely hip-hop. He had all the underground shit that you only know if you were from the East Coast. He had the original records to the break beats, not that compilation stuff. He does this showcase for us and Tommy Boy are like, ‘Hey, you guys want to open up for EPMD and Queen Latifah in Germany?’ We were like, ‘Hell yeah!’ I went to Fuze and was like, ‘Man, I have these shows to do and my boy Kenny is still out of town. Can you go out with us again?’ Fuze is like, ‘Sure, but if I leave town with you, you have to put my man Money B. on because we’re a group.’<br /><br />That’s how Money joined Digital Underground. Before those two were Raw Fusion, they were known as MGM. Money B was there to do the extra vocals with me on ‘Doowutchyalike’ and he was great. Fuze put the scratches on it. Once we went on tour together that bonded us all. Here we are thinking that we are supposed to do everything live onstage…we are traveling with all our samplers, keyboards, midi cables…I’m talking about 17 cases! Everything we usually set up in the studio we set up onstage [laughs]. We didn’t know that we should have been utilizing tapes for some of the musical parts just yet. It was a grueling tour. We had DJ Fuze do the shots for ‘Doowutchyalike’ and we had another DJ there to just play music in between shots. The ‘Doowutchyalike’ video was also Humpty Hump’s first appearance.<br /><br />He was a slow, piece-by-piece evolution. It started with me imitating that cartoon singing Warner Bros. frog. That bit was funny to me. There was also some Bootsy, Rodney Dangerfield, Morris Day and Slick Rick thrown in. But it was mainly based on my uncle Tony Red. He really talks like Humpty. He didn’t know how to dress, but he was the coolest nigga in the world. He would walk up to girls and say the most stupid shit [laughs]. They would look at him crazy, but he would be like, [in the Humpty Hump voice], ‘There must be something wrong with y’all, man…I’m Tony Red.’ It wasn’t until the day we shot the video and we were picking up party supplies that the whole idea for Humpty’s nose came about. This store in Berkley had some bargain bin noses that were 99 cents each. One was a sharp nose, one was a pig nose and the others were some odd, brown Groucho Marx noses. I put it on and it was just so fucking hilarious to me. That was the birth of Humpy Hump. Once ‘Doowutchyalike’ sold about 90,000 copies, Tommy Boy told us to get an album together. We signed with them for about $60 grand which was cool to us because we finished what would become Sex Packets in two weeks for about $20 grand.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5k_TzBvdT9xNag9iim7Syer7PJ2pVSDIp6x4Xda5Tx3S87Ftcj0pqZbAZYPhDiy6WYp8hZ6yCgES_AWOiW0xqJvcicL24Dro_cibBmht1qnbiQ-iXusiNcObQ9K5N4zbjxc6iBfid88/s1600/digital_undergroundsex_packets1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5k_TzBvdT9xNag9iim7Syer7PJ2pVSDIp6x4Xda5Tx3S87Ftcj0pqZbAZYPhDiy6WYp8hZ6yCgES_AWOiW0xqJvcicL24Dro_cibBmht1qnbiQ-iXusiNcObQ9K5N4zbjxc6iBfid88/s400/digital_undergroundsex_packets1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552194837029990178" /></a><br /><br />Sex Packets--Digital Underground (1990)<br /><br />“Sex Packets didn’t feel like 100 percent hip-hop. It felt like some psychedelic, space funk. It felt like we were doing what P-Funk or Prince would be doing had they used samplers. Smooth, one of the singers in the group, he was into P-Funk and Prince just like me. He had a 30 to 40 Parliament albums just like me. We would be on some P-Funk shit together. Smooth was the cat singing the line on ‘Sex Packets’, ‘I'm just feeling what you love/And I'm givin’ til’ you need…’ He kind of sings like Curtis Mayfield, but he was a suit and tie guy working at MCI making a lot of money. Smooth would come to the studio and be down and help us out, but he didn’t really take us seriously because we were doing that rap fad he heard about.<br /><br />Meanwhile, in his briefcase he has an actual plan to create sex packets. The nigga was nuts [laughs]. Smooth really believed he was going to get a grant from the United States government to develop this technology to help astronauts have sex when they traveled. I thought it was a brilliant idea, but I didn’t think technology reached a point to where we could induce a dream and allow someone to see who they wanted and have sex with them. Acid and ecstasy were close, but it wasn’t quite that. As we were putting together the concept of the album I told him, ‘You know what? Sex packets would make a cold concept for a song. Let me try to flip it.’<br /><br />At the time, I was living on Smooth’s couch because my girl had thrown me out. We would sit there recording shit all day and night. He came home from work one day and I had it all figured out. I told him, ’Listen to this.’ [Shock G sings and plays the chords to ‘Sex Pocket’ on the keyboards during the interview]. I had the hook all the way. He added a line or two to it. About five Long Island Iced Teas later, we had the song finished melody wise.<br /><br />Then we started going over the Sex Packet concept to make sure people couldn’t poke holes in it. We started studying the properties of ecstasy and LSD and what all the jargon was. We created a story where there was a professor at Stanford University who designed sex packets for astronaut travel so they could be sexually satisfied. The name of it was GSRA which stood for Genetic Suppression Release Antidote. We created this story that a powerful drug leaked into the streets of San Francisco and it was called sex packets on the street. Then on top of that, we went to Kinko’s and made a serious looking pamphlet on how to use sex packets because it was dangerous and fucking people up [laughs]. We made thousands of those pamphlets and left them on the back of buses and at hospitals. After all that, it was Tommy Boy’s idea to name the entire album after the ‘Sex Packets’ song.<br /><br />The label was all about numbers. They told us, ‘Statistics show that the word sex attracts the eye 10 times more in records stores.’ To them, it was just that shit, but to us we were like, ‘Yeah…that makes it a great concept album!’ That’s what made me write another song called ‘Packet Man’ to help explain the concept of sex packets to people so they wouldn’t have to read so much into it. The moment when we knew Sex Packets was a hit was after we dropped ‘The Humpty Dance.’ We experienced it when we got off the plane coming from our first tour in Europe. We left as frogs but we came back as princes. It was a two-month tour and over there they loved ‘Doowutchyalike’ but they like ‘The Humpty Dance’ too much.<br /><br />We had just finished the album and the final song was a remix for ‘Freaks of the Industry’ because that’s not how we originally recorded the song. It kept getting knocked down because of sample clearances. Diana Ross did not want us using the original beat for [‘Love Hangover’] because her people didn’t want to associate their client with the lyrics on ‘Freaks of the Industry.’ The second to last song we got done was ‘The Humpty Dance,’ which was sent out and leaked to radio stations, DJ’s and TV channels. At that time, we were still on tour in Europe not knowing that the song was blowing up in the States.<br /><br />We didn’t even think it was going to be a hit. Some people in Digital Underground was like, ‘I don’t know Shock…it’s kind of funky sounding, but is that hip-hop?’ We left October and came back in January and shit went crazy. When we got off that plane, soon as we walked through the terminal, the employees at the airport were like, ‘Oh, that’s Digital Underground,’ running up to us! New York was on ‘The Humpty Dance’ because the bass coming out of the cars were killing people on the streets. <br /><br />Suddenly, ‘The Humpty Dance’ was all you heard when cars went by; the bass was just crazy. It was also one of the biggest dance songs of that year. When we performed ‘The Humpty Dance’ onstage at the Coliseum on tour with Public Enemy and LL Cool J, the whole dome would stand up and rap the entire song with us for all three verses! They knew all the lyrics and everybody would do the Humpty dance. People actually thought Humpty was a real person. We even had a Humpty double, which fooled a lot [of our own peers]. That Humpty dance is so goofy [laughs]. It wasn’t even a real dance; it really came from Money B’s little brother. All I added was the wobbly, ‘throw-your-hands-up-there’s-an-earthquake’ part. When we saw people on Arsenio and other rap groups doing the Humpty dance from Scoop, Scraps and Big Daddy Kane to Tone Loc’s dancers at awards shows, we were like, ‘Wow…people are treating this like a real dance.’ I was just trying to imitate my uncle Tony Red.<br /><br />We ended up going platinum with Sex Packets. It was all in the life. Queen Latifah would tell me that ‘Sex Packets’ was one of her favorite songs and that she had it on her lovemaking R&B tape next to Al B Sure. That’s why I don’t take credit for it today. But back then I was thinking, ‘Wow, this is the reaction to the first album we put together in two weeks?!!! I was just joking with this shit.’ It was easy to get caught up with all the success. Monica Lynch (then President of Tommy Boy) said to me, ‘I hope you don’t go down that path of some of the other artists on the label.’ They got really big headed after blowing up. I just told her that would never happen to me. But after Sex Packets, I started to go down that same path that Monica Lynch warned me about. I was gassed into thinking that I was the sole reason for Digital Underground’s success. We just thought ‘The Humpty Dance’ was how songs go when you have a huge pop hit. Then you realize that’s not how it happens. We didn’t have many more of those. I needed to go back to being humble and following my ears.”<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEi7lFBsstPR9uud-_XOkEXIflzRgCzFAQ2ALGosdd64X7UDfkphIjfDael7-iNnWrxKZhHh5I8tsuJVwsa1O1GazJO-DItBJoTcP7fBcGVVHqPPvoK44M2Ym_qMsXWqfYWfqN_dN85Ik/s1600/Digital+Underground+This+is+an+ep+release1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEi7lFBsstPR9uud-_XOkEXIflzRgCzFAQ2ALGosdd64X7UDfkphIjfDael7-iNnWrxKZhHh5I8tsuJVwsa1O1GazJO-DItBJoTcP7fBcGVVHqPPvoK44M2Ym_qMsXWqfYWfqN_dN85Ik/s400/Digital+Underground+This+is+an+ep+release1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552195340453193522" /></a><br /><br />This Is An EP Release--Digital Underground (1991)<br /><br />“Tommy Boy wanted another album right after the tour, but I told them I couldn’t have an album out that fast…We wasn’t Public Enemy…we didn’t have a Bomb Squad in the studio making our beats. We made all our own shit so we had to start on it when got home. Tommy Boy heard me freaking out, so they said, ‘Okay…just put an EP out to hold people over.’ It was their idea to include ‘Same Song’ on the EP as well as a couple of remixes. That’s why the EP didn’t have a concept, which to me was a sin. ‘Same Song’ was originally featured in this Dan Aykroyd movie called Nothing But Trouble.<br /><br />This was also 2Pac’s introduction to the public. There’s one misconception that I want to clear up. Pac was never a Digital Underground dancer. He was our roadie. And out of all the roadies we ever had, he was the best. You never lost anything on his watch. The only thing you could say about Pac was how wild he was. It was later that he started performing onstage with us. Pac would probably get us arrested in every other city because he would pop shit at the police quick [laughs].<br /><br />Sometimes he would get us in unnecessary fights. He would never back down even if he were in the wrong. But if they were fucking with us and we were innocent, which happened most of the time, we would support 2Pac 100 percent. But a lot of times he was just wrong [laughs]. Our first meeting with 2Pac was set up through Antron. He wanted me to be the ears for him and tell him whether or not he should sign Pac. From there, 2Pac became our label mate. He had presence when he rhymed. But Pac began to become restless so Antron called me in a panic and asked if we could take him on tour with us because he had a feeling that he was losing him. He just got offered a position with the Black Liberation Army at this college in Atlanta.<br /><br />Pac was ready to take that job and say fuck it because the music was taking too long. So, Pac took Money B’s brother place on our tour with Public Enemy and Big Daddy Kane. He did some dancing onstage, but he was mainly our roadie. At first I didn’t want to disrespect him because I knew Pac was a serious MC. I didn’t want to ask him to dance or be our roadie. I thought it was beneath him, but 2Pac calls me back and he’s like, ‘Hell yeah, nigga…I’ll do that!’ He never acted like he was a member of Digital Underground. We all felt like D.U. was a humorist band and Pac’s message was very serious. But we had already been around the world with Pac on tour and he was ripping up the after parties when we passed the mic around. So we asked him to be on ‘Same Song.’ Even my mother saw that there was something special inside Pac. She walked over to me during the ‘Same Song’ video shoot and asked, ‘Gregory, who is that right there?’ She hadn’t even heard of Pac yet. I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s 2Pac.’ And she said, ‘Watch him…he has that quality. I don’t know what he sounds like. But he looks like he’s a star.’<br /><br />For me, it was one step closer to that super group I envisioned in the mold of P-Funk. I figured the more MC’s you would see in Digital Underground the less the fans would figure out that I was the piano man and Humpty Hump and Shock G. At that time, if you seemed like you knew a lot about playing music you were considered less hip-hop. So I didn’t want to appear like I was Prince—like I was above it all or this God, which is how I looked at him. Some people criticized the This Is A EP Release because it had two or three songs that people had already heard and it came out in a plain white wrapper. Whatever. I tried to make it as interesting as I could.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZmOx_ULYP4kmEsB3zQGB47pISYbacbex3eg0HFHBUFdQvE_9be39u6-gwKsm6fGNkj-3_jTI5v7BXFC7xNFWBtRJhfU5GrrR6g_qUYFYKZevATIyxVDkv2uKGQjZF5UMMQ4Ys_PA3gY/s1600/albumsonsofthep.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZmOx_ULYP4kmEsB3zQGB47pISYbacbex3eg0HFHBUFdQvE_9be39u6-gwKsm6fGNkj-3_jTI5v7BXFC7xNFWBtRJhfU5GrrR6g_qUYFYKZevATIyxVDkv2uKGQjZF5UMMQ4Ys_PA3gY/s400/albumsonsofthep.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552195752185818146" /></a><br /><br />Sons Of The P--Digital Underground (1991)<br /><br />“When we get to the second album, me, Marlon (D.U. member and vocalist) and Smooth were playing with the possibility that George Clinton was down to work with us! We actually heard that George said ‘The Humpty Dance’ was hot, which was just crazy to us! Originally, we asked him to appear in ‘The Humpty Hump Dance’ video, but he couldn’t fly out. I felt like P-Funk was this Beatles like group that was being slept on. George never got a Grammy…he never got mentioned…they only speak of George as a great producer and bandleader today. I’m so happy that he finally got his due. After we received the phone call that George was down, we came up with the Sons of The P concept, which wasn’t my original concept. It was Marlon who came up with it…he’s also a huge Parliament fan just like me and Smooth. I told him that I liked the name and thought it would make a dope song title.<br /><br />[The tradeoff was] that Marlon would be featured on the song. And he was with it. But we had to get George to certify ‘Sons of The P.’ So we sent George some of the stuff we were working on. We go to meet him in Detroit…this is our God, our guru. George walks in the studio in the middle of the summer looking like a vagrant homeless person that crawled out from under a bridge [laughs]. His fatigues looked like they had been balled up and pulled out of the laundry; his shirt was dirty. And he smelled like he had been in those clothes for two or three days. And his hair…it was coming out of his ears, his nose; his beard was lopsided…it was all over the place. He had coke boogers in his beard!<br /><br />The crazy part is, during that day, Digital Underground was having our little issues and problems. But when George walked in and said, ‘What’s up, man?’ you could just see the room transform. We were in the Mothership! We were all at ease. There’s something about how down to earth George is. George is the bottom cat…His vibe is so good and he brings the best out of people. He is so informative…he can talk to you about government law and space…George was even telling me about what happened with Rakim in his settlement with Eric B. and I didn’t even know they had beef! When we heard his voice on our record it was just surreal. It’s not a gimmick with George. Just how he came off on record that is how he is in person.<br /><br />When we were in the booth with him he just leveled the playing field. Fuck going to the bathroom and hitting your armpits with a towel…he made everyone feel so comfortable because how could you be anything worst them him? We would do little coke bumps in the studio with him because we thought it was cool thinking we are doing coke with George Clinton! We trying to keep up with him. When George would run out of coke he would be like, ‘I guess that’s it.’ But then while we were listening to the playback of a track we would catch George digging in his sock and on accident finding another sack of coke like, ‘Oh yeah…this is a good one here. [laughs].’ You could tell the bag wasn’t new…the texture looked like it was beat to death, like it was liquid.<br /><br />George never ran out of coke! But I kept my mind on what we were there to do. We didn’t have to ask George to do much on ‘Sons of The P.’ He gave us way more stuff than we needed. He would hear a song once and learn it instantly. He never had to re-do vocals. He was amazing. We did gold on Sons of the P, which wasn’t bad. But I started to calculate that Humpty formula on such songs as ‘No Nose Job,’ ‘Kiss You Back’ and on the next album with ‘The Return of The Crazy One.’ Unfortunately, it wasn’t as good. You could hear it. That’s when I realized that I didn’t know what I did on Sex Packets that made it connect with people on such a huge level. But we already started to see some things from Tommy Boy. When we picked ‘Kiss You Back’ as the first single they asked us, ‘How come Humpty isn’t on it? Can he just be on the song?’ So the compromise was that I put him on the song somehow. Then we wanted to do a video for ‘Sons of The P’ with George in it and Tommy Boy was like, ‘Well, that’s not really hip-hop.’ And I’m telling them, ‘Since when have we’ve only been hip-hop???’ It was becoming a struggle.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEEA9f4kPI2S5rGkabwY1ZpIYtlwsOyim-iBPbHO0bypYf8CHkNjbwVngiKwnXWejn47E1L9HW-GQrti_0fda3-Iog2RAfFW9iCcHcP8e6JBQd1q0b9yeEztsAi-VSy3xA9sjG0smcjQ/s1600/2Pacalypse+Now.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOEEA9f4kPI2S5rGkabwY1ZpIYtlwsOyim-iBPbHO0bypYf8CHkNjbwVngiKwnXWejn47E1L9HW-GQrti_0fda3-Iog2RAfFW9iCcHcP8e6JBQd1q0b9yeEztsAi-VSy3xA9sjG0smcjQ/s400/2Pacalypse+Now.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552196137611080114" /></a><br /><br />2Pacalypse Now Sessions--2Pac ("Words Of Wisdom" and "Rebel Of The Underground," 1991)<br /><br />“We were working on 2Pac’s [debut] album a whole year before he even went on tour with us. Everybody in Digital Underground was producing songs for 2Pacalypse Now. His album took some time to put together. So after we finished it we started shopping Pac to the labels. We played it to for Tommy Boy a couple of times but they wanted to hear more music. They would tell us, ‘Well, we are looking at the charts and conscious stuff like Public Enemy and X-Clan is on the decline.<br /><br />Stuff that’s street and pimpish is on the upswing.’ To Tommy Boy if it was thuggish or outlaw, it was in. We were like fuck it…we just kept shopping Pac to other labels. But soon as ‘Same Song’ came out he got a few calls from the labels. When I was doing those beats on 2Pacalypse Now, I was kind of [giving a nod] to Public Enemy. I was going for a really hard sound. [But as we later found out], Pac was capable of so much more.”<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2PPR-v9VRNRTzdoc5k5YFXIOIHqmNWt-JOTwdzOUgAwzJNrw6X3oKv3onvdxpg-z-ZJ0l3TTYKbv4INS2_3YLQHw9MhI5q33oHamYRSh7w8WLVsvQdVdA8bS9uNT6dVJOLyOhiP-0JU/s1600/DUThe+BodyHat+syndrome.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM2PPR-v9VRNRTzdoc5k5YFXIOIHqmNWt-JOTwdzOUgAwzJNrw6X3oKv3onvdxpg-z-ZJ0l3TTYKbv4INS2_3YLQHw9MhI5q33oHamYRSh7w8WLVsvQdVdA8bS9uNT6dVJOLyOhiP-0JU/s400/DUThe+BodyHat+syndrome.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552196494783150610" /></a><br /><br />The Body-Hat Syndrome--Digital Underground (1993)<br /><br />“We were being warned by everybody. Every time we would see Stetsasonic and other artists on Tommy Boy they would tell us, ‘Man, Tom (Tom Silverman, the founder of Tommy Boy) is shady…watch him.’ But we were having success, so we wasn’t listening to any of that. We were getting paid. But by the time we did Sons of The P, Tommy Boy was sending songs back to us because there wasn’t enough Humpty on the album. We kept telling them that we didn’t want to tell the same joke over and over. But Tommy Boy felt it was our bread and butter. At one point they interrupted me while I was talking and said, ‘Shock, listen…We want some funny Humpty songs or you and Money B on some sex shit…that’s what Digital Underground is and that’s what you are good at…write some songs about female body parts like Sir Mix-a-Lot.’<br /><br />They were telling us to make songs like ‘Baby Got Back’ and ‘Put ‘Em On The Glass.’ That’s when we knew we had to go [laughs]. We told the label we were doing a political song with Pac ("Wussup Wit The Luv"), but they wasn’t trying to hear none of that. When we were making The Body-Hat Syndrome we felt like we were this group of all these different varieties and MC’s, faces, sounds and abilities. We felt like we were getting squeezed into just being the Humpty band. Tommy Boy made it seem like Humpty was Digital Underground’s lead rapper…they wanted all our singles to feature him.<br /><br />They were really starting to piss us off. We were fighting for our lives. You have a guy in your group who doubles as three people who are believed to be real. How about promoting that? Or how about the fact that we were the first rap group to go get George Clinton and work with him and the fact that we were influential in giving Dr. Dre the confidence to do the funk thing hard. Because while he loved P-Funk in his heart, Dre didn’t think it was hip-hop yet. EPMD sampled a P-Funk song or two, but they got off of it. We were the first people to say, ‘George is the next James Brown catalogue…just watch!’<br /><br />We felt like all of these things were being overlooked by Tommy Boy. We knew we were more than just Humpty Hump. I liked ‘Return of The Crazy One,’ but the fact that it was the first song on The Body-Hat Syndrome and that it was the first singe—that was all Tommy Boy. What we were doing is an anti-radio, anti-commercial album on purpose. We knew we were going to be out of there as a pop group, so we sat down and thought, ‘How can we make a record that our fans would still like, but Tommy Boy would hate?’ [laughs] ‘Return of The Crazy One’ was too nasty to be a big hit.<br /><br />The video was in the top 10 on the Playboy Channel, but it didn’t do that well on the other video channels because they wanted us to edit it. BET told us there was too much ass and titties. When The Body-Hat Syndrome didn’t do so well, Tommy Boy released us out of our seven-album contract. But that was okay because we wanted out. It wasn’t just us. Queen Latifah wanted out so bad. She got on Motown and finally did well. Tommy Boy, bless their hearts, was always a singles label. They really didn’t develop artists. They were just trying to streamline us down to the gimmick of Humpty Hump. That was never what Digital Underground was about.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuCha7Aic4bnDXYhlYtezyao5cJp2crPWesNMbL_b24oT3inHPcc0pjpb6sr9fm1wCNcUsQS9pl_BdE5FLs64v3wHdSJBqNbEOq-hMLsxd-GdvNTpSIDF-NZgJKxxuEQynrOkSuIt43I/s1600/I+Get+around2Pac.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuCha7Aic4bnDXYhlYtezyao5cJp2crPWesNMbL_b24oT3inHPcc0pjpb6sr9fm1wCNcUsQS9pl_BdE5FLs64v3wHdSJBqNbEOq-hMLsxd-GdvNTpSIDF-NZgJKxxuEQynrOkSuIt43I/s400/I+Get+around2Pac.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552196873801443298" /></a><br /><br />"I Get Around"--2Pac (1993)<br /><br />“I never knew that 2Pac wanted that Digital Underground sound. I was surprised when he told me because I always thought of Pac as more aggressive. That’s how ‘I Get Around’ came about. Meanwhile, Pac had become a star. He’s down in LA shooting Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson. He’s doing his next album (Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ) with all of these other producers. He’s recording a song with Ice Cube and Ice T (‘Last Wordz’). He was doing his thizzle. Before we recorded ‘I Get Around,’ it was a four-track beat that was going around our camp. People would just freestyle over it. Every time we would play it people would say, ‘Damn, that shit sounds good!’<br /><br />Meanwhile, I was working on Saafir’s album and when he heard the song he walked up to me and said, ‘Man, I would murder this track…I know you ain’t going to give this to Pac…I know you are going to keep it for Digital Underground.’ At the time, I was also set to be the person who scored this reality show about living on the streets. One of the songs I played for them was ‘I Get Around’ and we were going to use Saafir on the song. I was excited, but after I played them the beat in the reality show people were like, ‘We don’t know…it’s kind of pretty.’ In fact, there were other people who turned that song down! So right now I’m thinking it’s not even that big of a deal. Then Pac calls and tells me to send him some tracks for [Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ].<br /><br />I put the beat to ‘I Get Around’ on the tape first because I thought it was the best of all the songs on there. But I didn’t think Pac would like it. I had some more rougher beats that I thought would fit him better. Later, I got a voice message from Pac saying, ‘Yes nigga…yes! I like the first beat…that’s what I’m talking about…that’s the one!’ We knew ‘I Get Around’ was going to be a hit just from the video shoot. We had done four years worth of videos by then, but everyone on the set was going crazy when they heard the song for the first time. Every musician on the set was walking up to me, ‘Dog, what did you use on this song? Is that a sample?’ I started it off by sampling Roger’s [‘Computer Love’]…that whole part where it goes, ‘You know I get around….’ That was the one to me because it had that fucking harmony. I just looped up that sample, added the transformer, and touched a few piano chords over it.<br /><br />This was all before I added the drums. I always do my drums the same way. I finish everything else but the drums to see how everything moves…that’s how I figure out where to put the kick and the snare. During the ‘I Get Around’ session Pac laid down his verses first. He left a hole on the track and told Money B and me to write our verse while he was finishing up his vocals. I was drained, so I told Pac I was going to come back tomorrow and lay down my verse. But Pac was like, ‘I can’t wait…they are mastering my album tomorrow…it has to be done tonight.’<br /><br />A messenger was in town to take the tape back on a plane to Interscope when we finished it, so Pac picks up a pad, walks away from me and he looks up in the air and writes some lines and looks up and writes a few more lines. I swear, less than two minutes he had my part on ‘I Get Around’ written. And it was dope! I was a little hesitant because back then you didn’t say other people’s rhymes…you wrote your own rhymes. And at the time I was engaged to this girl Melissa who I later married.<br /><br />So how was I going to be the freak of the industry on this one? All that sex shit I was talking on the first two or three records was because I was single. I was chasing pussy. Now I’m in love and I have a wife on the way. I’m listening to Pac’s own verse and I’m like, ‘Damn, I don’t want to disrespect Melissa.’ Pac knew that. He had already thought about Melissa for me with that line, ‘Because I’m a freak doesn’t mean we can hit the sheets…’ Pac respected my relationship. When people come up to me they always say the satin in the panties line. I had one of the best in the business writing for me. If you had to have a ghostwriter why not 2Pac? And he would always hit me off with $30 grand per track. It was lovely. I wasn’t in the bathrooms when all the sex was jumping off during the shooting of ‘I Get Around.<br /><br />Yeah, I did my thing at previous concerts and studio sessions. But Pac was on another level [laughs]. When we were on tour in Europe everyone would bring used condoms to the road managers’ room. Whoever had the most at the end of the tour got a pot of money. Everybody who didn’t fuck for that night had to put $100 in the pot. So over the course of the tour that pot was getting big. It was $4 grand by the end of the tour. And Pac and Money B would always win it [laughs]. Tommy Boy was pissed when they heard ‘I Get Around.’<br /><br />They were like, ‘Shock…how could you give that track away?’ And I’m like, ‘What do you mean? It’s coming out on Pac’s album. He’s in our group.’ We sent that song to Tommy Boy just to say, ‘See…we can do songs without Humpty.’ I was so glad that it went down like that. Pac would always act like we were doing him a favor by producing ‘I Get Around’ because he was still a new artist. Even the label thanked us. But you never know when some little thing that you do for somebody is going to turn into something big.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgVI2BGeO53G_rEiahD9zDKtFcpOeIR3BKF8JZISkC6Flrr2KHA3iPbf4WZW_EsMrQhyI2vihDCQxYvWc5_eLBJL9gNwbi2S00obb9qUHXSZSoUjh-Lr-WRORgnAgZQaWP9c4u4kslmY/s1600/luniz5onit.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgVI2BGeO53G_rEiahD9zDKtFcpOeIR3BKF8JZISkC6Flrr2KHA3iPbf4WZW_EsMrQhyI2vihDCQxYvWc5_eLBJL9gNwbi2S00obb9qUHXSZSoUjh-Lr-WRORgnAgZQaWP9c4u4kslmY/s400/luniz5onit.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552197251802343362" /></a><br /><br />"I Got 5 On It"--The Luniz feat. Dru Down, E-40, Richie Rich, Shock G, and Spice 1 (1994)<br /><br />“The Luniz, based on us doing ‘I Get Around’ with ‘Pac, called me to produce a few songs on their album [Operation Stackola]. But one of the coolest things was appearing on [the remix to ‘I Got 5 On It’]. Truthfully, I didn’t know what to do because my confidence was very slim as an MC. I felt good as a producer…but I didn’t know what to talk about. I played out Humpty Hump, so I was looking for an identity as an artist. But my skills were still there. And the way the Luniz asked me was humbling: ‘We need you on this one Shock…We need all the Bay Area ballers, man.’<br /><br />That gave me the confidence to write something. I’m in studio writing and the Luniz are in there with me and I’m bouncing ideas off of Knumskull. I knew I was going to get ripped a new asshole when it came to that speed rapping like E-40 and Spice-1 was doing [laughs]. So I was like, ‘Yo, I’m going to sound like I’m in slow motion…so let me give my shit a melody.’ That’s why I incorporated the ‘I Get Around’ line. It was a cool contrast and it fit in there and I had a lot of people saying, ‘Ah Shock…I love your part!’ But I don’t think the Luniz would have came and got me if I didn’t have that 2Pac association.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnJovyD8FsybWc_Tzztj_vf3upVJUzTEQ6_Vc5sYPijnGGXwahRUZ0z2e0Eyga1qxY5aX4L-xa2bQYPRpCt_KNRoNb5wDbCZrk9N2Q5kTSI4Vm1ss1vXvvWmd4oE-dRKZGwIOg8A8aKY/s1600/2pacMe+Against+The+World.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrnJovyD8FsybWc_Tzztj_vf3upVJUzTEQ6_Vc5sYPijnGGXwahRUZ0z2e0Eyga1qxY5aX4L-xa2bQYPRpCt_KNRoNb5wDbCZrk9N2Q5kTSI4Vm1ss1vXvvWmd4oE-dRKZGwIOg8A8aKY/s400/2pacMe+Against+The+World.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552197587348612610" /></a><br /><br />Me Against The World Sessions--2Pac ('So Many Tears,' 'Fuck The World,' 1995)<br /><br />“I sent three good songs to Pac for the Me Against The World album. The first one was what turned out to be Digital Underground’s ‘Oregano Flow,’ the second was ‘So Many Tears’ and the third one was a beat I can’t remember. So Pac calls me back in Oakland and he’s like, ‘I like the first one and the fourth one.’ And I’m puzzled because I only sent three tracks. I thought he was fucking with me. I flew up to LA to meet with Pac about the songs. I’m like, ‘There is no fourth beat…I searched and searched.’ He played the tape for me and when the third beat ran out some old, dusty shit that I had taped over and didn’t want no one to hear came on.<br /><br />He’s like, ‘This one, nigga!’ It was that ‘Fuck The World’ beat, which was really a Prince remake. We had all that Minneapolis shit in it. But we ended up not doing it because nobody felt the beat but me. But Pac loved it. The original line was: ‘Something Minneapolis said…’ Pac let us keep some of those background vocals on there. We later changed the line to ‘They try to say that I don’t care…’ ‘So Many Tears’ is another one that wasn’t made with Pac in mind. Stevie Wonder’s ‘That Girl’ was one of my favorite songs, so I knew at some point I was going to sample it. You can hear Stevie’s texture on ‘So Many Tears. I didn’t jack the bassline…I wrote my own chords. But I used that metallic texture of ‘That Girl.’<br /><br />Pac was just weird and special that way. He was not a businessman out to get rich. He was trying to change the world through music. I’m spoiled when I get demos now. People telling me, ‘I’ve been shot more than Pac and been to jail…I’m a real thug…you should fuck with me.’ I just tell them that’s not why we fucked with Pac. ‘ All that later shit that later happened was just Suge Knight’s influence. That wasn’t the Pac I knew. I still tear up when I think about him.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYOdGjPy6ZR1txagH_ozcrPB3DQmmmM3M9SyJIye8LcynwQucurcIFuNMuNPzVuSy5UqrAAbrVg4LR72RyzjZ58mPti0_U39IBDOdQ1fwpGQBDGd0jh1JObhAHHYPvdTTYAcTl_y4Ff0/s1600/DUFuture+Rhythm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYOdGjPy6ZR1txagH_ozcrPB3DQmmmM3M9SyJIye8LcynwQucurcIFuNMuNPzVuSy5UqrAAbrVg4LR72RyzjZ58mPti0_U39IBDOdQ1fwpGQBDGd0jh1JObhAHHYPvdTTYAcTl_y4Ff0/s400/DUFuture+Rhythm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552197965098400258" /></a><br /><br />Future Rhythm--Digital Underground (1996)<br /><br />“I was going through all types of weird shit during this album. I didn’t know who I was that year [laughs]. Still, it was fun because D.U. had that creative freedom of no longer being on Tommy Boy. I could experiment again and I was back to having fun recording like I was before the music industry. Digital Underground was becoming boring to me because when we were on Tommy Boy we were expected to crank out the same song. So it was fun to get from under that. But by then my wife and I were having problems. If you notice, Future Rhythm is very asexual. Like I said, this was just a weird time for me. But I loved the freedom we had.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaeXnCeZlK90_g-PXgnri0Okt9e5nE4BrArf4YDg5pOSqUyTjq6ChDnwIEJ9ngK07tqdvbqSZWDLuXT2r9fZlpAFVKjS4uEscrJ3kb5gQ5WWF678_g51DHL6icQzWaeGg05mJl8nfgWA/s1600/PrinceLove+Sign.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 375px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVaeXnCeZlK90_g-PXgnri0Okt9e5nE4BrArf4YDg5pOSqUyTjq6ChDnwIEJ9ngK07tqdvbqSZWDLuXT2r9fZlpAFVKjS4uEscrJ3kb5gQ5WWF678_g51DHL6icQzWaeGg05mJl8nfgWA/s400/PrinceLove+Sign.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552198311208175762" /></a><br /><br />"Love Sign Remix"--Prince feat. Nona Gaye (1998)<br /><br />“At the time I did [the ‘Love Sign’ remix] for Prince I had yet to meet him. That came later. But I have to tell this story. While I’m in New York working on D.U.’s Who Got The Gravy people are coming up to me going, ‘Yo, good to see you on that song with Prince.’ So I would turn around and look at whoever I was with and say, ‘I ain’t never did no song with Prince…’ Then I get to the studio and the engineer is like, ‘I like the work you did on that Crystal Ball album with Prince.’ I’m like, ‘Why does everybody keep saying that? I never did a song with Prince.’ So I went to the store and sure enough a remix for ‘Love Sign’ produced by Shock G was on there. I thought I took too much ecstasy and acid because I couldn’t remember doing that song [laughs].<br /><br />How did I meet Prince and not remember that session??? I thought I was losing my mind. But you know what it was? It was a remix that Prince’s Paisley Park label hired us to do with Nona Gaye. This was in 1993 and it was a song that Prince wrote for her. We muted Prince’s lead vocal tracks and added our tracks on there and that was it. But when we sent the track back to Prince it never came out. At that time, we just thought it was the closest we would ever get to Prince like, ‘Wow, we touched the same tape that Prince touched.’ After six years, I forgot about that shit. Prince left the track exactly how we sent it to him. I missed the release party for that album, but while I was in New York we got sent an invite to go to another Prince album release party in Soho.<br /><br />He had Q-Tip on the turntables…everybody was in the house. They thought because I had this new Digital Underground single called ‘Wind Me Up’ that I should go to the party as Humpty. I bought a couple of girls with me and had a limo…it was a big publicity thing. I’m in the VIP area late into the party and Prince comes walking through. He’s wearing the high heels and this crazy red suit that the Joker would have on! You can tell he was in the room because everybody’s eyes were lighting up.<br /><br />Back then the thinking was if you wanted to talk to Prince you had to wait for him to talk to you because you might run him away, so you knew not to fuck with him. I’m standing there as Humpty, so I have to talk like Humpty. I got Stevie Wonder cracking up [laughs]. And Prince walks up and he speaks to me! He asked me how I liked the album and I was like, ‘Man, I loved that song ‘Don’t Play Me’ and ‘Dream Factory’ swings hard…it’s some of the hardest shit ever made.’ He was like, ‘Yeah…that was cool how the groove fit right in there.’ I talked to Prince in the flesh!”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWdQpO4lD1_IcrNC0rkRpyS81k35dSS9NsqQfBjRqRTA_SJjBcKgbX948z_L-SUn8ywn4pQc98vwXEoKJhyphenhyphent-d3qxoZ3BBTZuQDwOTvrR0bHQDNO4g2A2DkMT1uTm9B7NfgRfImNwEdE/s1600/DigitalUndergroundWhoGottheGravy1998.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghWdQpO4lD1_IcrNC0rkRpyS81k35dSS9NsqQfBjRqRTA_SJjBcKgbX948z_L-SUn8ywn4pQc98vwXEoKJhyphenhyphent-d3qxoZ3BBTZuQDwOTvrR0bHQDNO4g2A2DkMT1uTm9B7NfgRfImNwEdE/s400/DigitalUndergroundWhoGottheGravy1998.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552198686373319730" /></a><br /><br />Who Got The Gravy?--Digital Underground (1998)<br /><br />“Jake Records reached out to us for a deal. They told us, ‘All those other labels didn’t know what to do with you. We do.’ Afeni Shakur (2Pac’s mother) introduced me to Gary Katz [one of the founders of Jake Records]. He had produced Steely Dan and had his hand in a few rock things. Katz told me, ‘Just do your thing…I know how to bring a record in.’ He supposedly knew what he was doing and just wanted to oversee the project. We became friends. So, I’m in New York mixing Who Got The Gravy working with KRS-One, Biz Markie…even Big Pun was fucking with us. I just remember everyone telling me, ‘Yo fuck that, Shock…We are going to help you get back on!’ The way KRS showed up to the studio was so mind blowing…with so much love and support.<br /><br />Just like George, he gave us way more songs than we needed. We had a big budget…he didn’t ask for a lot of money, but we were going to give him $10,000 just to appear on a song. I didn’t even think KRS would show up. I didn’t think he would mess with silly ass Digital Underground. This is the mighty KRS-One. And he was like, ‘What??? I work with anything conscious. When you said ‘Yo fat girl, come here are you ticklish on ‘The Humpty Dance,’ that was telling everybody to join the party!’ I never thought of it that way, but he was right. KRS goes into the booth and proceeds to lay so many things. When it got to three songs I was like, ‘Kris…I don’t know if I can afford much more than $10 grand…’ And he goes, ‘What? Shock, I’m not here for that…I’m here to make your album tight.<br /><br />That’s what hip-hop is about.’ I was just baffled by that. I was so used to so many Cali cats hustling money for sessions. But I should have known. It was the same thing with Big Pun…he was more thugged out than we were. So I didn’t think he was going to come, but he was like, ‘Come on man…you were one of the first persons to give props to Puerto Ricans.’ Pun’s food showed up to the studio first [laughs]. Nothing but big plates of Spanish food. It was a trip. But to tell you the truth, I thought Who Got The Gravy would be the last D.U. album. When that one really didn’t happen the way I envisioned it I was done with it. I’m telling my manager and everybody, ‘Stop making me do Digital Underground albums.’ It was a different time in hip-hop. The music wasn’t bad. It was actually good. It was just that people wanted Jay-Z right now. And I wasn’t mad at that. So I just left it alone.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLeFxvf73cE0VNw_PGWsaLGisXcK1kS5fFJBQZjfNsz_sxV2dZl7e7E2zzYt2O2f_a8T75Gpznv6dCjJ1pPUXNa-IQNUrj1iaFLv5z6GLi1cUmcm02HGiAVqh7-S2IY7FPrz5-WuuSVw/s1600/Shock+GFear+of+a+Mixed+Planet.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLeFxvf73cE0VNw_PGWsaLGisXcK1kS5fFJBQZjfNsz_sxV2dZl7e7E2zzYt2O2f_a8T75Gpznv6dCjJ1pPUXNa-IQNUrj1iaFLv5z6GLi1cUmcm02HGiAVqh7-S2IY7FPrz5-WuuSVw/s400/Shock+GFear+of+a+Mixed+Planet.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552199017051618386" /></a><br /><br />Fear of a Mixed Planet--Shock G (2004)<br /><br />“My mom would ask me, ‘How come you don’t own any property?…you are going to wind up like one of those broke musicians!’ After she told me that, I would give my mom money to save up for me and she would put it in a CD account for me. A few years later, Michael Concepcion, who was the dude who put together the ‘All In The Same Gang’ song and is in a wheel chair because of gang violence, called me to his house. I thought I should go because I never picked up my plaque from appearing on it. Meanwhile, my neighbor was noticing me getting high a lot in the late ‘90s and early ‘2000’s. I was doing a lot of ecstasy and acid. I had a serious problem. I was getting away from the old me. And yes, I was a bit down and out because I owed so much in back taxes.<br /><br />So Mike sits me down and says, ‘You are having too much fun. We want you back in the studio. We want you back doing what you do.’ I’m like, ‘Man, I’m not a gangsta…I can’t talk about the stuff that rappers are talking about today. That’s all people want to hear.’ I’m feeling like there was no place for us. Even De La Soul and Public Enemy were struggling. And those groups had way more respect than us. That’s the philosophy I gave Mike. But Mike was like, ‘Shock, everybody can’t be Snoop and Dre. The kids need to hear something else. They need it now more than ever, man.’ He looked at me like, ‘I’m not just trying to get you off of drugs. I’m telling you we need you.’<br /><br />And he was saying all this from a wheelchair! He knew how that street life could affect you. He made me see things in a different way. Ever since then, I started valuing who I am and what I do. A few years later in 2002, I started forgetting that the money was coming out of my checks. So one day my mom tells me, ‘You have $70,000.’ I told her, ‘Mom, I want my money.’ She asked me if I was ready to buy a house yet and ’m like, ‘Nah…I don’t want to buy a house. I want to make an album.’ Michael gave me that spark. I didn’t have any record industry ties.<br /><br />But I felt confident and I had something to say again. My mom didn’t even get mad at me. She understood. If you listen to Fear Of A Mixed Planet it doesn’t sound like anything you are supposed to be talking about in ’04 if you wanted a hit record. Once my solo album existed suddenly the pressure from Digital Underground was lifted off me. When my mother heard the album, she said, ‘You sound more vibrant than I’ve heard you in years. I knew this album is what you needed.'"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcf_THU-qKrVd6_p5xaMjxVCWBSboSas77_eNXZZN4_wqHEvwaM164VNuCaTWeH7h-zOyd90m1PMX3ZF9M_hluEE8uOC6KwAxXpXQ3guc_Ji20B4Lpe1lXSYsbuycKUvZMhmU9G477YKI/s1600/DUCuz+A+DU+Party+Dont+Stop.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcf_THU-qKrVd6_p5xaMjxVCWBSboSas77_eNXZZN4_wqHEvwaM164VNuCaTWeH7h-zOyd90m1PMX3ZF9M_hluEE8uOC6KwAxXpXQ3guc_Ji20B4Lpe1lXSYsbuycKUvZMhmU9G477YKI/s400/DUCuz+A+DU+Party+Dont+Stop.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552199386421658994" /></a><br /><br />Cuz A D.U. Party Don't Stop!--Digital Underground (2008)<br /><br />“People would always tell me they missed Digital Underground. There would even be these D.U. compilations of shit that wasn’t even supposed to come out. Finally this one dude Scott Thomas calls. He is now the CEO of Jake Records. He says, ‘I read online that you are broke and that you are not having fun in the studio anymore. I think that’s crazy. If you want to do something I will invest in you.’ We ended up putting together some D.U. live material from one of our shows. The deal was if I gave him a few new songs, he would put the live songs out, which became Cuz A D.U. Party Don’t Stop. Scott really loves Digital Underground and thinks that we should have never ever stopped. We announced that it was going to be the last D.U. album.”<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVT0BAIY2R054AEH7o50Ve_kNToYIFes_u988INOkuHlKqJQyyHThYTnJtehU5XgKVp_mnncMcDM8Tqj7yYCqMGmKmCtIRv0gp2PA4nJj76iqf9kGtskhZ2CGT4vS-aOAe9ZjaQqqMb48/s1600/DigitalUndergroundTheGreenlightEP.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVT0BAIY2R054AEH7o50Ve_kNToYIFes_u988INOkuHlKqJQyyHThYTnJtehU5XgKVp_mnncMcDM8Tqj7yYCqMGmKmCtIRv0gp2PA4nJj76iqf9kGtskhZ2CGT4vS-aOAe9ZjaQqqMb48/s400/DigitalUndergroundTheGreenlightEP.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552199712456392962" /></a><br /><br />The Greenlight EP--Digital Underground (2010) <br /><br />“A couple of years later, Scott Thomas calls me up and says, ‘I have to tell you something. I was buying the masters off of the guy who owned the label that released Who Got The Gravy. Man, you didn’t tell me about these outtakes!’ These were just songs that we didn’t use. He was like, ‘Man, you gotta let me put these out. People want to hear this! We can say that this is an EP…the last Digital Underground release.’ But I didn’t want people thinking we just came into the studio and did this. So I decided to let him release it with the agreement that we would place the dates on which each song was recorded on the production notes.<br /><br />Today, Money B is still doing his solo records. And I just got finished working in Minneapolis with Dr. Fink (Prince’s former longtime keyboardist in the Revolution band) on a Prince tribute album. I did the artwork on it, which was kind of in the vain of the 1999 album cover. We talked to Tommy Boy about releasing it. We negotiated it and they gave us money mix the last track, but they stopped because they didn’t want to pay for all the song clearances. They were scared that Prince was going to sue them [laughs]. So, it’s become this tug of war. Now we have this little label in Minneapolis called Orphan Records that just doesn’t give a fuck. They are going to release it.<br /><br />The album features Eric Leeds, Matt Fink, who helped produce it, Lollipop, an electro artists from Minneapolis, Toni Christian, the former lead singer and guitarist from Mazarati and some other people. It should be out sometime next year. I can die happy today. I used to have nightmares that I would have a heart attack with the Humpty nose on and they were going to bury me and put Humpty Hump on my tombstone [laughs]. Because shit like that happens. Maybe that’s my legacy. But the touring is still fun. Interpreting our songs in different ways is always cool. I can pop up on a Prince album. Life doesn’t suck. But everyone who sees me on the street or when my name comes up on TMZ or VH1 thinks that my life sucks…like I’m dying [laughs]. But I’m out on tour with P-Funk. I’m producing and Djing for Murs who is letting me use the keys and drum machine to interpret his songs how I want. I finally feel like I’m out of the box. Now it’s easier for me to put that Humpty nose on.”<br /><br /><a href="http://www.vibe.com/photo-galleries/full-clip-shock-g-runs-down-digital-undergrounds-entire-catalogue-2pac">VIA<br />Vibe.com</a>Adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370057455895527349noreply@blogger.com