e’ve been hearing about this W Bay Area movement for a minute now. Do you think it’s on the upswing or has it stalled out?
I’m from Atlanta, dawg. I don’t really know nothing about anything else. A-Town, shawty. [laughs] Naw, the Bay Area movement right now is definitely on the upswing. You’ll see a lot of artists getting deals. Clyde Carson just recently signed with Capital. You’ve got The Pack over at Jive, E-40 and The Federation at Warner Bros., The A’s over at TVT and me at Atlantic. That’s a beautiful thing for a region where a couple years ago we had no major label exposure. Hopefully 2007 can translate to some nice sales and a big buzz. Why did you decide to sign with Atlantic? The way my deal is set up with Atlantic is damn near like a distribution deal. I’ve got an Asylum deal, but with Atlantic I have things set up to where I’m still able to do my independent movements and the things that already established me as a Bay Area artist. My deal is still structured in that form [as an independent], but they’re able to upstream me if possible and have the first choice [of signing me to a major]. So I got a nice deal. At the end of the day, the main thing is selling records. Even if you’re just pushing a single and living off your ringtones and digital [sales], that’s your main thing. You have to generate sales, both for you and your label, cause that way you keep both parties happy. Nowadays you see a lot of people with big promotion and big buzz, but they’re not selling records. Nobody is really selling records in the industry no more. You have to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself.
Who are some of the key players in the Bay movement that the rest of the country might not be aware of? There are several other artists, but a lot of the DJs play a big part too. Regardless of my personal relationship to cats like Big Von Johnson, he has a big role in the movement because he’s a Music Director. He really gets the say-so on what plays and what breaks. Cats like Rick Lee, DJ BackSide, DJ Juice and a lot of other DJs have a major influence. There’s an abundance of talent in California. Explain what the hyphy movement is, in relation to Bay music in general. The hyphy movement is something that has people outside of the Bay Area interested. That’s what they identify with. When you say “hyphy,” you think of the Bay Area, just like when you say “crunk” you think of the South. That’s our demographical identification. That’s the genre of music we’re popular for, but everything coming out of the Bay Area is not hyphy. A lot of cats definitely don’t participate in the hyphy movement as far as their musical preference. They don’t do hyphy music, which would be defined as uptempo, adrenaline-filled music telling you to “go stupid” or “go dumb.”
The rest of this interview is featured in the March issue of ozone. Visit us online at www.ozonemag.com to check out the debut of OZONE West.
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The Bay Area has high expectations of artists like Keak da Sneak and yourself as the ones that are supposed to break through and open the doors for everyone else. Do you feel pressure to succeed on behalf of your region? Keak is a pioneer. He’s someone who’s taken a style that people initially thought was awkward and off-the-wall and has influenced our genre of music. Even if he never sells another record or never signs to a major label, he’s a pioneer. He’s already had his jersey retired. He’s one of those guys that still plays the game with their jersey in the rafters. We respect him. He’s the people’s champ and we’re all rootin’ for him. Whatever happens now, it’s no pressure for him because he’s already done what he’s done. Whether he’ll become a regional celebrity or a worldwide celebrity, Keak da Sneak will always be a part of this whole movement in history. As far as me, pressure is just expectations. Some-
times people expect so much from you that they begin to hold their ambitions and motivations and put it on your shoulders. Sometimes they can’t take stuff on themselves and they need an outlet. Pressure is really an expectation of others, like people who expected E-40 to take the hyphy movement to the next level. There was a lot of pressure on him. Whether he took that and digested that himself, that’s on him. I don’t feel like it’s no pressure on me, cause I’m just doing what I’ve always done in creating music and being me. Being me has got me this far, so why stop? There is no pressure.
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