Ozone Mag #30 - Dec 2004

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HIP-HOP GROUPIES' LUSTY TALES

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Jenuery 2, 2005 HIP-hop hoochies are spilling all the dishy details about rappers and athleles theyve supposedly bedded - ineluding Jay-Z, Allen lverson, Melhod Man and Jadakiss - in the new issue of Ozone magazine.

Thc Heitzhcn

Haliday

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ffiffi Every Tuesday

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The ghello-fried glossy - which bills itself as "The Southem Voice of Hip-Hop Music" - surueyed a group of anonymous groupies about their carnal conquesls in its new

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"Sex lssue."

HOAX YOUR

A woman urho suppsedly bedded Jay-Z years ag0, jusl after he released his said the future superslafs rap r,',ith the ladles

lF YOU LOVED THE 2004 ,tORlAL WEEKEND SUR/IVAL KIT, DON'T MISS OZONE'S^,tE SUPERBOWL WEEKEND GUIDE! Or'ER 2O,OOO PEOPLE VETTNG JACIGONVII.IE FOR THE SUPERBOWL WLL 1HI5 sPECIAL MINI EDMON OF OZONE, PACXED WTH AAAPs, CLUB & EVENT LISTINGE, HOTEL LSTINGS, INTERflEWS, PHOTOS, & ITIORE!

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/ pgA10 JB's 2 Cets / pg A11 Feedback

/ c4.A14?f,BG12 B/GhostWites / pgA15

OZONE Fhroto Gatbnes

On the Set: A4ob Bobby Novoa, Bogan, Brian O'Hare, Chris lmani, Cynthia Coutard, Dain Burroughs, Darnetla Dunham, Dave Goodson, Fetisha Foxx, Fetita Knight, Hasan Brown, lisha Hitlmon, Jaro Vacek, Jeska

Manrique, Jesse Jaz, Jessica Kostow, J Lash, Katerina Perez, Keith Kennedy, K.G. lvlosLey, Ljsa CoLeman, Matik "Copafeel" Abdut, Matt Sonzata, Maurice G. Garland, Natatia Gomez,

/ pg Al 7 pg 821-23

Patiently V\hiting

CONTRIBUTORS:

CD Revieus & Mixtapes

/

2004: Awesonety Bad Scuthem Song / r4.N2 Groupie Confessiors Vot. 2 / pg Al 3 Cover Story: Tiick Daddy / pg M1-23

Njkki Kancey, Noe[ Matcolm, Ray Tamarra, Rayfield Warren, Rhonda Baraka, Sophia Jones,

spiff, Swift

SALES CONSULTANT:

Che' Johnson (Gotto Eoogie) LEGAL AFFAIRS: Kyte P. King, P.A.

(Kiry Law

Cover Story: Young Cash

Firnt)

SfREEf RFPSI Al-My-T, B-Lord, Bitl Rickett,

Black, Bul.t, Chitl, Chitly

/

pg 81415

Stim Thug

pgA19

C, ControtLer, Dap, Dereck Washington, Derek Jurand, Dwayne Barnum, Dr. Doom, Ed the Wortd Famous, Episode, Generat, H-Vidal, Hotlywood, Janky, Jason Brown, Judah, Kamikaze, Ktarc Shepard, Kydd Joe, Lex, Lump, Marco Mall, Mr. Lee, Music & More, N'Ron, Nick@Nite, Pat Pat, PhattLipp, Pimp G, Quest, Red Dawn, Rob-Lo, Statik, TJ's DJ's, Mctor Watker, Voodoo

Derin the Dude pc 89

CIRCUL.ATION:

Mercedes (Strictly Streefs) Buggah D, Govanah (On

Point) Big Teach (Big l4outh)

Efren Mauricio (Direct Promo) To subscribe, send check

or

money order for 511 (1 yr) to: l',loin office: 1516 E. CotoniaL Dr. Suite 205 Ortando, FL 32803 Phone: 407-447-6063

Fa\i

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Web: www. ozonemag. com

lndustry 101: Shawn Prez

c442425

Lit V\hyne

pg

81'1

lAiami office: 555 NE 15th

5t. Suite

7731

Fabotous pg 813

Miami, FL 33132 Cover credits: Trick Daddy, Stim Thug, Young Cash, and Cuban Link photos by Julia Eeverty. OZONE Magazine is pub-

tjshed eteven times annuatty by OZONE Magazine, lnc. OZONE does not take responslbility for unsolicited maLerials, misinformation, typoqraphical errors, or

misprints, The views contained herein do not necessarity renecL those of Lhe publisher or its adveriiserc. Ads appearing in this maeazine are not an endorsement or vatidatj6n bv OZONE Maqazine for products or services offered. AIL photos and itlustraLions are copyriqhted by iheir respective artists. Atl other content is copyright 2005 OZONE Magazine, aLl rights reserved, No portion of this magazjne may be reproduced in any way without the wriLten consent of the pubLisher.

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Cuban Llnk's tabeL, M.O.B. Records, fLew leverai dozen reporters to Puerto Rjao for a press junket. While reporters toured the Bacardi Rum faci{ities, a "mote" apparentLy stid invjtations to a Fat Joe video shoot into ihe Bacardi gift bags.

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1,,,e cori,e this far; l'm rieterininei that ihis iiter,,,ie\,/,,vill 9.t iic:r= I'j:.i ,r. i-d.rcl' nerghbor in .Ujarii. ',vhq ha: n habit of blasting mrsic with tlreir windo',{s iraeir. ,rr.k.:: i rr ni 3:30 /i,{ piaytrq Tricj,'s Thug l,t,tilt inotry. An, .he ir cf:J. {l ieil l;i.k ihjs Laie( arai b.,r ra,r!l.!. "Tirev rnuli br: Lliiak.") 9 r'.r\4 5harp, i cailTdck. llc arsw?r 1 caLi Charies, wha l:l!i! rr'r.r,ao irr ll i,ii{':, lrerrse. stoppiig by his ha'rse rnannolrced so0rd! {ike a bad i,:lsa,

So, your albun has sold 7 miLiion copies, and you're accepiing a Billboard Award. What do you say? Diss the producer oi your bigggt single, of coul5e! Usheis insull to Lit Jon dlring the Bitlboard Awards had everyone confu\ed. Usher is featured oo "Lovers & Friends," potentiatly the biggest song on Ljl Jon's new album, Crunk Juic€. but so far Usher has refused to give singte righrs. This legalLy prevents Jon'e Label TVT from fiLming a video or promoting the song at radio.

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06'r BUTANT CO|iI'IERCIAUZATION OF CHruSTilAS AWARD we Co( a f\\

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Trick Daddy f/ Cee-Lo, Ludacris, & Lil Kim "Suga."

Mr. Magic f/ B.G. "You Know My Kind" Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz fl Elephant Man & Lady saw "What U Gon' Do (reggae remix)" T.ick Daddy f/ Jazze Pha "4Eva"

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This concept (and tayout) is a straight rip from VH1/Btender Magazine's poputar series, but hopefutty they won't mind. lmitation is the sincerest form of flattery eh? Anyway, we were a tittte disappointed with their recent speciat, The Most Awesomety Bad Songs of 2004. White we agreed with some of their selections (Ruben Studdard's "sorry 2004," Ludacris' "Sptash Waterfatls," R KetLy's "U Saved Me," Eamon's "Fuck lt" and NetLy's "Pimp Juice") there were ptenty of songs more deseMng of the titte. They atso included a few songs that didn't deserve to be on the tjst - tike Terror Squad's "Lean Back. The incLusion of Juvenite's "Stow Motion" was aLso questionabLe - especiaLty since the VHI writers apparentLy coutdn't teLt the difference between Juvenite and Soul.ja Stin's verses. And white we would have toved to inctude that annoying Ashanti song (you know, the one where she's moaning, "Baby, baaaby, baaaabay, baby"), we had to draw the line somewhere. 5o, here are the 20 most awesomely bad southern songs of 2004. . JB & Wally Sporks 10 - Chingy "Balla Baby" Chingy's transformation into a "balta" is not convincing. His "baby, baby" Biggie rip atong with untikeLy braggadocio tyrics tike "l coutd take on all ten [girts] with my one pjpe" makes for an awesomety bad pop song. ' JB

01 - Dem Franchize Boyz "White Tees" Where shoutd I start? Whack beat? Check. Terrjbte rhymes? Check. Bad mixing and mastering?

Check. High annoyance factor? Check! You know your shit is a gimmick when it spawns at least six different response records. Fortunately, these humbte dudes didn't get inflated egos from the unexptainable success of this song. - WS

11

- Nelly "Flap Your Wings" the worst dance song of the year. "Drop

Easity

02 - Trina "Big Ol' Dick" Going for the marketing strategy of "sex selts," Trina tried to create a buzz by rapping about atl the men she's (attegedty) fucked (Ludacris, Baby) and throwing in a few other names (Netly, Jay-Z) so peopte wjtl think it's a joke. - JB 03 - Lil Flip fl Lea "sunshine" Lea was the best thing about this song. The most annoying and simple songs atways turn out to be the biggest radio hits - what does that say about society? "l'lt treat you tike miLk, l'tt do nothing but spoiL you"? - WS 04 - Crime Mob "Stilettos"

The beat is crazy, but these young

tadies

Diamond and Princess screaming, "We rockin' stitettos, hoe!" makes my ears bteed. Nonethe[ess, they have sadty succeeded in creating a women's anthem. And, I must add that both of these girl.s took good in heets. - Ws 05 - Nelly fl Tim Mccraw "Over and Over" Country music + hip-pop = bad idea. - JB 06 - Master P "Them Jeans" Master P is the 500 mitlion dotLar man. He shoutd know better. Here's a personaL request from a

longtime fan and supporter: stop bitingl This obvious "Get Low" rip-off was pathetic.

' l{5

07 - Juvenile f/ Wyclef & the Ying Yang Twins "Slow Motion (remix)" Whoever put this remix on Juvenile's Greofest Hifs atbum shoutd be fired, There was no need to remjx "stow Motion" in the first ptace, and there are a mittion rappers that coulda ripped this track better than Wyctef and the Ying Yang Twins. No one wants to hear about 'Ctef's "super sperm" or the Ying Yang Twins' "freakin' til twelve the next evenin'." - JB 08 - Ludacri5 "Splash Waterfalls" Every time I hear the song, I am forced to revisit the video: haunted by corny visions of Ludacris seducing women and kickin'game in ctich6d settings tike a footbatl fietd and a tibrary Then, the hook comes on, and we see faux pastel ctouds.

Huh?

'JB

09 - J-Kwon "Tipsy" This underage drinking anthem suffered from pure overexposure. lt was one of those songs that was so irritatingty catchy it was bound to be heard everywhere. " JB 12

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC,dAN 2M5

down and get your eagLe on"? " JB oem f'rancrrrze

eoyz

f

I

12 - Bonecrusher "Super Nigga" Bonecrusher in tjghts js not a visual picture want to have. Ptus, the song sucked. - JB

I

13 - Ruben Studdard "Sorry 2004" As if the song wasn't bad enough, Ruben was tooking llke a big fat statker in the vjdeo. - JB 14 - Pastor Troy "Ridin' Big" Any song that substitutes "yo" for "hoe" in the radio version is bound to be bad, Pastor Troy was not ridin' big after this singte, and the album, flopped. This song marks the thousandth time that a rapper has bragged about "gettin' my dick sucked while I drive." -JB

15

- Murphy Lee f/Jermaine Dupri "Wat

Da

Hook Gon' Be"

Hey, Jermaine, I can't think of a hook. Oh, "What da hook gon' be? I don't need no fuckin' hook on this beat?" Yeah, I Like that. That's creatjve. Great idea, thanks. - JB

l6

- Rasheeda

f/

Petey Pablo "Vibrate"

spitting, "Make that ass vibrate" over a frantic track just doesn't sound right to me.

A woman

Petey Pabto's verse added a nice tolch, but Jive did Rasheeda dirty by taking her song and put-

ting it on Petey'r atbum. - JB 17 - Ying Yang Twins

"Halftime"

smurf, you shoutd've known better. This shit was, shit. I am firm betiever that no song other that "Bout lt Bout lt" in % time wilt ever make the ctub jump, especiatty a song that's on some marching band shit. - Ws 18 - Trillville "Crunk ln Yo' System" Shout "GET SOME CRUNK lN YO SYSTEMIIII!" a futl five minutes. Repeat. - JB

for

19 - Don Yute fl Ying Yang Twins "Row Da Boat" This contrived attempt at Southern dancehatl just didn't work. Slip-N-SLide was hyping it up as the next big thing, but it djdn't happen, - JB 20 - Goodie Mob "One Monkey Don't Stop No Show" The group tried to make a statement against former member Cee-Lo, but it backfired. So, as it turns out, apparently one monkey can stop the show. - J8

lililrilf]I

Ti#ii'jl*T';XtTffli;:;;#iB'r'":?':'.E':lli;";Y:l1l#'fXT;,:T"1l,T;ff:l.i,'"'""ii'j"Tn'fJ'''ll:i""il

GOtlt$$lOtS d:;i'i*#iif*r+itr.i;l'T,i,'j;li*:ru'*,:1:*:ir",r;mJiifll[il]'fillr'liiifi#Tr:yiff got tengthy, amusing - and obviousty fake - exptjcit story about young Lit Jon) and guy he with Mya.

a a We claiming slept two responses to the review of AtLen lverson: one girt says, "l don't know why this bitch is Lying...l was fucking the man for years. He has a nice dick, Just right!" Another gjrt, however, confirmed that lverson was "kinda tazy" and "boring" in bed, but added, "The story in your magazine was kinda harsh. He's not big, but I woutdn't be as mean as she was. She was exaggerating a tit' bit. l'd say he's about six inches." Another reader confirmed that Benzino "is a freak!" and inctuded a detaited story about him earning his red wings. lf you don't know what that neans, you don't want to know. We atso got a catl about a one-night stand in the mid 90's with Freaky Tah, but we'tL tet him rest in peace.

to satisfy the curiosity of att you nasty muthafuckers, we've decjded to turn "Groupie Confessions" into a monthty cotumn. For those of you who may have moraL objections, I assure you, it's very Eibticat. The morat of the story is this: everything that's done in the darkness wiLt eventuaLLy come to tjght. So, guys, if you don't want to end up jn this cotumn, fuck girts who .ore about you, and chances are they won't put your business out there.

So,

Discloimer: These interviews ore ononymous, so we connot verify if they are true or not. AII detoils (cities, club nomes, hotel nomes) hove been removed. These stories may or may not be factuol and do not necessorily reprcsent the opinions of OZONE I'lagazine. These stories are from severol diflerent women ond did not necessarily occur recently, so if you ote currcntly seeing one ol these fine gentlemen, no need to curse him out. lf you, too, have a celebrity .onfession, send an emoil to feedback@ozonemag,com ond we will reply with instructions. cAlilRoN How did you meet Camron?

I met him at a concert through a friend of mine. was just standing at the bar and he ' was there with my friends, and he asked me, "Are you down to fuck?"

That was the first thing he said?

Yeah, he was very straightforward.

I mean, I've hung out with them before. The sex thing was onty one time, but other than that, we were cooL. He'd calL me or 2way me to come to video shoots; stuff like that. lt was more or tess cause of my friends. I guess he was pretty sure lwouldn't turn him down.

Wereyou attracted to him, or was

it

mostly cause he's famous?

Oh, he's cute, but I think Jim Jones

is hotter. But for some reason,

I

respected the fact that Jim Jones had a girtfriend. He was there too and he'd actuatty tried to hotta at me first, but lwas Like, nah. I reatty wasn't too interested in him.

He basicalty asked me the same thing Camron said.

What happened once you got back to

the hotel?

lot of drinking. There were other girts there. Iheywere alljust hanging out, ptaying video games. They were recording in the back room.

It was a suite. There's a common A

tiving room, where everybody was hanging out, and then there was three rooms and a kitchenette- We went into one of the rooms.

night?

Did you spend the Yeah, I stayed in that room and

he stayed in another room, Everybody eLse slept in the tiving area. But he treated me with a tot of respect; a tot more respect than you'd think. ln the morninq he ordered me breakfast and we went

swimming.

huh?

So he's definitely not gay, I reatly don't think so. Peopte

just

say

that cause he tikes to be different.

or

off."

He took his ctothes off, tights on, bed and take your ctothes put the condom on, and we

fucked. He definitely tikes it doggy style. He grunts during sex; he doesn't reatty do the dirty talk thing.

Afterwards we just smoked a btunt and hung out.

just

LiL' bit oft? He said I'd probabty wanna keep it.

it a one-time thing?

No, we've been friends ever since, We have arguments every now and then over buttshit, but Shawn's a realty good person. Peopte say he's arrogant, but that's a front.

Was

We had a whole conveEation about his girt, tike, his main girt. I'd never think he was gay. lt's just the pink shit Are you always aggressive?

andthatearringhewears' FIELD A OB (SHAWN JAY)

**Ji!':,t'#T:"|""8illi:i

think it's the record industry that (This inteNiew t@k place dt o club makes their dicks big. At first, where Lil FIip wos epected to peiorm) I was just excited cause of the How did you meet fame, but that shit gets ,,1 otd and ptay€d out so j"y?.

Shawn

..

think it's I thEilrl.iii

lrgt.liti:

ll"..11br tried to hoLla at him four or five times. lt took a white, but l'm

lngusffy-fnaf

persistent. maKes

tnelf

l!1,y:v.b9.lifrllF!,.! 'em." But, if I meet one of them niggas and fuck

'em once and

never

YOU hear from 'em di:Ii.!igrl9' why,d you go arter h'.t ii':i,.:3f,, .i["?l#J; I oick them tvoe of niseas. t itt tt'. on"i in tt'"

ii-r"- meJf gamg ain't and let'em got a hit song out, what think thev " I mean, Light.

if

he

is the.attraction? He just Dlavint a reguLar nrgga. twas ruD- | bin'on Shawn's dick in the ctub, tike, "You sti[[ playin' games, huh?" They att got attitudes. They think they hot shit. They think they got att the game, but hoes got game too, They like, "Damn, this bitch loose!" (loughing) They act tike it's a big deal, but it's not. Sometimes a girl just wanna fuck. Feet me?

How was it?

It was 5oooo good. His dick is soooo big. You can quote me on that one.

The width is like a Pringtes can, and the tength is tike ten inches. Yeah, he has a big dick. We didn't kiss anything, He was tike, "Get on the

Even if I was mad at him I'd stitt suck his dick. He likes to hit it from the back, but his dick js too tong. I asked him, coutd he cut a

VOLii.

t'

not irying to be your wire oi y6ur eirtfri6nd.

We cou[d be friends. but niggas - pLay .games. so you can

t

reatty taKe 'em seriousty. You gotta pLay their game and Let them think they ptayin'you.

Any other rappers you've

53

a ten.

(she points

ot

flipl"

(loughing/ They

Like Trick Daddy says, he want a bitch that'tt fuck on the first night!

Don't save the pussy, give it atL right now! Stim Thug, too. Trick Daddy, he coutd get it too, I mean, I reatty had it out for Lit Ftip. l'm coot,

He's

a ten too! (laughing) \ou know I gotta keep it reat. Shawn is great.

bdrtender) He's

lt's

though, I'm 'bout to catt Shawn!

the

Horribte.

I

definitety expected

better. Maybe jt was cause he was reatty drunk, but he had no reat rhythm. lt was just bad. And he'd tatked up his dick tike it was the biggest thing in the wortd, but it definitety wasn't. lt wasn't, like, smatl, just average. But, he was definitely into giving head. I totd him that I don't give head. I receive it but I don't Like giving it. So, that part was good. The sex was mostly missionary Kinda boring.

Did you leave afterwards?

I mean, it was stiLl fun. He's a coot

guy

to

hang out with. Afterwards

we watched movies and

played video games. We tatked a lot about his life: his career.

marrled?

reatty disappointed.

Great, great, great!

How was he in bed?

Did you feel guilty knowing he't

tike that talking nasty and shit.

it?

He

kept taLking about how beautifut I was and that he wanted more than just sex. I was like, "l know what you want," but whatever. I let him tatk whatever he wanted to tatk.

Ljt Ftip! lthought Lit Ftip was gon' be here toniqht. I brought my fur out for him and he stood me up!

I was gon' say, "LiL Ftip, I coutd

make you

So how was

I dr'dn't know he was married.

got

He calted a Littte while later and I went over to his house. When I went

putted atl the stops out. Suckin' his batts, everything! (laughing)

Did he say why he liked you?

No, but it was kinda funny cause he was trying to sweet taLk me as if

your eye on?

What happened after that? over there I knew what was goin' on. I might never see him again, so I might as wetl just put the moves on him! I

When they were teaving, he's tike, "Areyou coming backto the hotet?"

I said no, cause lwas actuatty there to see somebody eLse. He carried me, threw me into the timo, and we went back to the hotet.

KEITH MURRAY

How did you meet Keith Murray?

It was at a concert. He was performing and putled me on staqe.

No. I probabty shoutd have, but no.

I reatty didn't.

Did you stay in contact with him?

It was just one time. I didn't take

his phone numbet and he didn't take mine. He gave me his 2way number, but I never 2wayed him.

l've seen him a few times after that and he just says, "What up."

What did you get out of it?

It was more or less just for amuse-

ment. lt was funny to me that he realty thought I was lat the concertl to see him, but lwasn't.

He was mostLy jnterested cause wasn't reatty into him.

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN

I

2M5

13

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OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN 2OO5

Mob E Evervthino" "Mv (cdinesvllle, FL) 3id Level Records

Ghost v\,riters 7 "Bring it Back Up" (Houston. T)O

Heavy Hitta Entertainment

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN

2OO5

15

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OZONE I,IAGAZINE DEC/JAN 2m5

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"l got a whLrppin' for having an Eazy E tape'cause it had cussin, on it,,,K.r.D. taughs, recatting his introduction to hip-hop. Born in Housron. he des.rihes tris-upbrrging ii:tG tvp,.;i ;;;,i"ry. - with an absent father,

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when he starLed *:-i::f"l,I-:::,"^t-,1"-.:,I":1. hearins records from E'MD, aizmarr<ie, ""a oouf r-rierrr, ireligrous !i'|5'|vuJ uor^ts'| background uu"u with wrrr da rove love ror tor rne the game. K. x.f.o. r' D. devetoped oeueiorjea his frti own o;;

;iG. "My music styLe. gives ihe .uu. gives rhe perspec'tive DersDective from both sides. there's a soirituatrrv wiicn toucnes you-. -b'u-t-iiii*i pi"'".f,v.'t,"" oeen on the block too, so perspeciive.: l^::+ld^:psil:lg1:-lusttini ",o o*.ribed as the ,,Houstoo " whiLe shopping therr pro;ect,_;t uecime it".", irlJ w,-Tang more rnterested in him as solo.artrsl. A chance meeting at a Radio shack oet.een r,is iioaucei-JJon! ot tne cgos or New york.based Hardkore Entertainment ted to his record de-aL. setr-conriinea iJre-tJu"t,'ilror,or" tu, ties to RpM,s Rene McLean, who s cosign on the project is benenctat. K.r.o.,s stngie, r,l., throughoLrt LoLrisiana. ALthouqh he resDects the Houston i"aiii"i "ire"jva C"'i;i;j,p*i"i a"ri,n, screwed chopped music, K. t.D. prefers ro rip opponenLs in East coast battre ::iiih"i't ur"nu,l*" iilnt "iii"*"a xtro. 'f'r"'r.vr. or 'Face and ucK, a (ot of cats in the East wasn.t vyin' to heiij " "".uption rr,rZ, " "t"*, th-ey'reopening up their ears. No disrespect to aiyooay, trt tn"y iiiti ii",r"f'r'#i MC yer. " whrLe there are many acronyms for x. t. O., p"ii ipi,t .j" u" irrrn"aio ",n on", Kid rs Danserous. - Jutja Beverly, jb@or""d"i.;;ili;ffi;; il;"Jn,

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OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN 2M5

He was the Bos5 of the South before the Neptunes signed him to their label Star Trak. Now

he could very well be the next (ing of the Radio, As of now, his solo debut is scheduled to drop in February but since he heard from 50 Cent that he's dropping that month, Stim might push his release back a lil'. He's in no rush.

Sitting in lnterscope's New York City offices, Slim Thug lays out the blueprint for his success, and explains why he's so confident he's got that fire.

How did you get started rapping? ln high schoot ltook rapping as something fun to do. They had these tittte parties they used to throw in Houston every Friday. Atl the tocat high schoots used to go. lt was catted The Att Star.

That was the spot, the club.

When did you actually start taking

it

seri-

ousty?

I went in The Att Star and did a few freestytes and the DJ was a hot DJ in Houston named Michaet Watts. He worked for the radio station 97 The Box. He asked me to come get on one of his mjxtapes. And when I got on the mixtape, it

just took off. lt's the

sLowed down music,

the

Screw music. lt's hard for a tot of other peopte to understand it but down in Texas jt's big. I got on wjth lMichaet Watts] and the buzz just went

from there.

You were successful sellinq records independently before you even got signed to lnterscope.

Yeah, in Texas, it's reat bjg for jndependent Labeis. We had the distributjon company Southwest Wholesate and they backed a Lot of independent labeLs. I put my thing down and be' came successfuL at it. lt's a Lot of footwork. You got to make atl the moves yourseLf. You're in controt of your destiny as far as promoting. You got to do a Lot of that with your own money. But if you get a good littte vibe going, you can make a tot of money. You can setL 100,000 records and see atl 58 of your whoLesate money. That was a big part of it for me. That's why I loved it.

You seem

to have a lot of drive. Where

does

that come from?

From me not wanting to be working in McDonatd's. Me Looking how ltook, atL tattooed up

with a grilt, jt's going be hard to ask for

an wanted a job where I couLd be

office job. I just myself. Now that I found that way I feet tike I need to take advantage of that opportunjty to the fultest and get what I can get out of the game. At the same time, took out for my tittte boy and make sure he's straight later on down the tine. That's what it's about, dojng what I Love to do and getting paid for it.

Do you do a lot of shows?

A lot of shows. That's how I been tivjng. Off of shows. That was my main way of eating when

I was dolng mixtapes. I was doing shows on other peopLe's beats. I did a tot of shows around Texas, Louisiana, San Diego, Pensacota. lguess what made it travel and what took it to other pLaces were the mititary bases, army bases.

That's what I noticed, a lot of ptaces where there are units, we setl a lot of records around there.

doors for us in Houston. He was the first dude to do it reaLty in the south. Of course, I took up to him, the Geto Boys, Scarface. They're some major peopte jn my [ife. I love Devin the Dude.

He's on some shit no one etse is on. He's crazy.

I love his music.

What do you talk about in your songs?

I think it's some shit that happens everywhere around the world. I thjnk peopte in NY can feet what l'm saying. I just keep it ptain, simple and reat. I'm a lajd-back rapper. I tatk about the hustte, the streets, stories of my tjfe. I got some club shit. ltry to hit it jn every area.

The South is hot right now. Do you feel like this is a good time to come out?

Yeah, the South is popping right now 8ut we're on something different. I'm definitety happy that across the country is opening their eyes to the South and startinq to respect our artists.

5o yes, it's a good tjme. But I'm going to show another part of the South. We stitt iike that New Coast. lt's time for people to see a lot more of Houston. lt's bigger than LiL' Ftip, what he taLking about. Because he's one side of it. I want to give peopLe my perspective of the city.

Spedking of Lil'Flip, do you feel like there's any competition coming from other Southern rappers?

For me, it never reaLty been tike that. l'm not taking it that serjous. People caLt me the Boss

down South. So that's why I catt mysetf that.

That's what I ran with. T.l. my nigga. We ctose.

Last night 'tiL4 in the morning in the strip ctub type shit. We kick it heavy. I see FLip every once in a whr'te. He moves around a lot. I respect a(t these dudes in the game and what they're doinq.

Do you think the T.l.

vs. Flip beef will get

serious?

t realtv know what lhey got going on.

I don't thjnk they ought to take it that far.

I dol

Being

from Houston, did Rap-A-Lot and

J. Prince influence you?

J Prince is definitety a mentor because he's the one who reatty opened the

I

don't think it's that serjous. I think they shoutd do they thing. I doubt if it get to the streets. I hope it don't get there.

How did you get signed to Star Trak?

It was me and Pharrett. He was on tour and when he came to Houston, I met up with hr'm. We kicked it. I seen him in Puerto Rico, we kicked it. I did a record with Fam-Lay and he tiked it. When I signed with Geffen / lnterscope, I didn't know Star Trak was over there. Jjmmy lovine found out that

me and Pharrelt knew each other and he linked us together. He tjkes putting someone with a buzz with a super producer. When something is a tittLe hot, he wants to make it real hot. We made a coupte records together and it was atl good so we just kept going. I'm happy over there. Pharretl and Chad are fuckjng genjuses happy working wjth them.

at what they do. I'm

How many tracks did they produce on your album?

They djd nine tracks. I got two from Jazze Pha. One from Scarface. Mr Lee did the rest. He did

most of my independent work. I got Scarface featured, T.1., Bun B and Snoop. And PharrelL and Jazze Pha doing hooks on some shit.

You've got your own click, Boss Hogg Outlawz.

Yeah, I got one artist who is tined up right after me, Kjtter CaLione. He's atso stgned with Geffen/ lnterscope. l've atso got the Boyz ln Btue, a group with me, Catione, sjr Daty, PJ, Lit Mitt. l'm going to put them on after. l'm going to try to keep it moving. At the same tjme, I can stitt do a lot of independent stuff. I can put Boyz ln Btue out and also put out my chopped and screwed version of the atbumWhat else have you got going on business-wise?

I got a reat estate thing. Iwo CD and tape stores. l'm trying to do thjs strip ctub. lgot a car tot I'm fucking with. I'm an att-around hustler. lt ain't just about music. This is my majn hustte because it's brjnging the most money, so I'm going to give it the most attention. But I'm going to stay doing other shit. Wherever I see money can be made, l'm going to take advantage of it. That's just me.

- Jessica Koslow, lovehiphop@aol.com

(Photo: Julia Beverly)

OZONET.AAGAZINE DESJAN

2OO5

19

20

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN 2OO5

It seems like you don't like doing interviews.

Not reatty. They keep asking me the same questions, man. Ask me something djfferent. A tot of maqazines and radjo stations and video shows get the same paperwork from the labet so they know what they're supposed to ask youThey're asking the same questions. Dojng thjrty interviews in one day, lcan't take that shit.

Oriqinally you didn't want to do this interview because your name was brought up in our T.l. vs. Lil Flip article. Do you feel like magazines, or media in general, are responsible for a lot of the beef jn hip-hop?

Welt, lwas just fuckin'with you. But nah, beef js something that muthafuckers were born with.

A lot of times it's about money, or somebody might wanna beef with you to get on your LeveL or compete with you. lf you reatly think about

rt. the whote music game lo some nrggas rs competition. But for me, it's real Ufe. I ain't got time to compete with another nigga. lt's tike T.l. said in a song: "lt's hard to compete with me when you minding your own business."

So if you aren't motivated by other rappers, who are you competing against? Yourself?

I don't took at it as competjtjon. I look at it as survivat, because this is the onty thing I can do. Anything else I couLd imagine doing, they'd send me to the penitentiary I never looked at it as competition cause l'm not a competjtor One thing I know is this: as long as you keep it reat, you ain't gotta worry about getting caught up in

no hes and you ain't gotta worry about getting caught up in a character. I wake up and go to sleep in character I am the character

\-[{ FA(

A lot of artists try to separate their personal lives from their careers.

It's hard to do that. My music is my personat tife. A tot of artists that do that ain't reat artists. I'm reat. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. Either l've done it or l've seen it done. l'm Maurice, but no matter where I go, I'm gonna aLways be T'Doubte-D, Trick Daddy. l'm gonna always be rough to my family and in my home, l'm gonna always be the bad guy in the the me' dia, and I'm gonna atways be Mr. Freaky Deeky in the eyes of the women. I just stay the same.

I gotta watch what I do now, because of the me' dia and the potjce. And don't get me wrong, aLt potice ain't bad. lt's a tot of good poUce. A good poLice, to me, js someone that wake up in the morning to go to work. That's it. Just do your job, nothing extra.

Do you let your kids listen to your albums?

Yeah. My son is three and my daughler rs nine. and they atready know. They tetl me lshouLdn't

say certajn words. They know when they're reciting some of the songs, they know when they get to the bad words don't even say 'em.

They stop. They know how to adtib. And that's the probtem with a tot of kids growin' up, and it started with our era. Momma used to be [ike, "Go jn the room, grown fotks tatkin'." And that tets the kjds know that they doing somethjng they ajn't got no busjness doing. Now, you've got some situations where the momma telts the Lit girt, "l don't want you to go out that way cause I don't want you to go through the things l've been through. I don't want you to have to do the things I did, cause there's a Lot of things

I wish I woutdn't have did. I had you young."

So now the daughter responds [ike, "Let me tearn on my own," or, "l ain't gon' be Ljke you, you can't charge me with what you've been through." And unfortunateLy, the tabtes keep turning and the daughter ends up gojng through OZONE I.AAGAZINE DEC/JAN

2OO5

2'

the

same thing

momma

went

Beat they ass, Learn to teLl

the through.

'em no. Don't let 'em cry.

It'l[ never stop. lt's that cycle that's gonna keep

No chitd shoutd have

They don't get eveMhing they want?

No. That's not a reason to cry. Send 'em to they room.

Give'em a nice room, let 'em have they nice Littte toys and video games in they room. But back in the day, our teachers used to paddte us. lt used to be that the school coutd beat us,

going and going.

What have you bee.

through that

you

wouldn't want your children to repeat?

Fjrst

to

of atl, I've been

prison. And aLthough I Look at it as a Lesson,

man, there's lessons in books. I coutda went to

but now they've got

laws protecting kids to cover up some dumb shit that some dumb parents did. But now it's hard for us to raise our kids. You've got to get their respect. lt's not about hav-

coLtege, I coutda finished school, I coulda done a

tot of things, But naw, I went to prison. Those are years out of my tife. Nobody couLd ever say they gon' forget. Those years could never be forgotten, and they coutd never be given back to me. I don't want my son to have to

go

to

prison.

I

ing your chitd fear you, it's

growed

up Poor, in the projects.

My chitdren ain't poor.

As long as l've got 55, my chitdren can get 54

to cry

grom.

of that 55. And I don't

shown abore uppings before they grown,

with his 3-year

son

Jay

tatkin' about niggas and hoes who think they coutd rap - get me that one record, and I'lt hetp you do the rest. Everybody say, "Oh, you got a Label? Put me down, my nigga!" Nah, jt don't go

tike that. I been doing this shit for atmost ten years. lworked, so you've got to work too, my nigga. Ain't nothing handed to you. once the New Year kick in, l'm gonna start working on getting a ldistribution] deat for my tabet. See, I don't wanna go to the man until I'm ready.

How do you feel about Atlantic's "Joint

chiefs" campaign, p.omoting you along with

don't stand a chance. That woutd be the shit

isn't that the same drug y'atl were tockin' everybody up for? Y'atl sajd it was a date rape or addictive drug, and now y'att wanna say it's okay? But, I think they wiLt eventuaLty Legatize drugs some type of way, as long as the govern' ment couLd make money off 'em. lt's aL[ about potitics; it's att about the government monitoring us. They need to know what you've got. lt's the same problem with us warring with other countries. The probtem is, we worried more about what other peopte got more than we worried about ourselves. stasy,

What was your reaction after the election?

I honestty beUeve that this time it was as fair as it's gonna get. lt's over now, we're stuck for another four years. We just gotta stick together and not let this become a country where it's

Do you have any New Year's resolutions?

l'm gonna get money. I'm gonna start my label.

I

pray God witL keep me heatthy and keep me safe

to respect me.

on their tiptoes. lt's just tike a country where women can't show their faces. Same thing.

Have you seen a dramatic change in the way Atlantic operates since they've merged and

brought in new executives like Lyor Cohen?

Definitety. Before, I iust knew names, I didn't know faces. A tot of peopte are signed to a tabet and they don't even know who owns the tabet. Now, I know what part everybody ptays, so if somethjng goes wrong I can 90 right to the there's more interaction now.

Yeah. lt's atways drama deating with the peopte who deat with radio and video, cause they have the hardestjob. lf someTV show gets a no-show, they'tL catL Attantic cause they know somebody that know somebody, and they're Like, "We need such"and-such to fitt in today, we heard he's in New York, can he come here right now?"

Attantic wants everybody to be Superman. l'm not used to that. I don't know who's Superman, So

but l'm not, lcan't operate tike that.

You've been performing lately with a live band. 15 that a lot more difficult than pe.forming over a track?

was two years ago, and I atmost went to prison.

You can't tet stuff offend you. I hang with white boys and I catt them "my niggas" and they catl me "nigga." That don't offend me. Nah, I want them to put Miamj on the map.

There was a lot of controversy last year because Benzino put out some tapes where Eminem had used the word "nigga."

That Benzino and Eminem thing, that's deeper than Nino Brown. I stay out of shit I don't know

How was your Christmas?

nothing about, To me, the word "cracka" or "pig"

My Christmas cost a tot of money. And I never reaLly get nothin'for Christmas,

means the potice, or a snjtch. "Nigga" means with a dick, just Like "hoe" means with a pussy. ldon't

How do you make sure your kids have everything they need without spoiling them?

if

source and get the problem taken care of.

When you performed at Khaled's birthday party, you made a comment dissing the Miami Awards.

They ain't qive me a Miami Award. I mean, come on, man. lwant you to do me a favor, and I want you to write this shit, too. Whenever you hear a song that I'm on and you feet tike I buttshitted, you put in your magazine and you let them know: "l think Trick coutda did better. " Cause I don't do that. Wheneveryou hear one of my songs, or if I'm on a song on somebody etse's atbum, that's the song that everybody ptayin'. cause l'm gonna represent mine. There's some cottabos I was supposed to do that never came through, but that's because of some paperwork or some company probtems. I don't have probtems.

just the poor and the rich. They're trying to When artists talk about "putting Miami on the wipe out the middte ctass. They've made it into map," don't you feel like you've al.eady done a country now where even though I took noth- that? Are you offended? ing like a terrorist, I have to go to the airport Nah, I don't get offended. Last time I got offended and go through aL[ these extensive searches. lt's crazy, but jt's working in some peopte's eyes. lt makes us look like a communist country where you can't trust nobody. lf you see a Mustim or Arab watkin' by, you Look at 'em crazy because you don't know what to thjnk. lf att you lr'sten to is the news, you don't know what's the truth and what's the ties. Everybody waLkin' around

us

we did a Joint Chiefs aLbum, a coltabo.

in these streets. I don't need enemies this year.

I'm gonna leave atl my enemies in 2004, I wanna think drugs will be legalized?

The government is trying to legatize ecstasy for have a better relationship wjth my momma, my peopte that's on they dying bed. Did you see kid5, my wife, and my famity. I'm gonna take it to that on the news? That's some crazy shit. Ec" that levet where a nigga can't have no choice but

2M5

fut. I witt never Nino Brown my tabet. So, any good artists that's tooking for work I ain't

a ctique of muthafuckers together agajnst

before they eighteen.

Do you

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN

tertainment, and I pLan to be the biggest artist that couLd open up doors for other artists. I aLso pLan to have my labet where it's zero toterance.

My employees witl get paid, the artists wilt get paid. Every time we successfut, we atl success-

drildrenl is not abolt all about respect. Respect T.1., Fabolous, Fat Joe, Twista, and Juvenile? l don t mind, because l respect aLL them nigur drild tear you, it's go way further than fear. gas. lf it was somebody who I djdn't respect ResDdsoes the kids need or didn't respect me, then it'd be a probtem. feai. Br.rt1he Sometimes But atl those niggas been grindin', they deserve to be beat? least ten Definitety. The average kid to get they money. lt s their time to shine, so they needs at least ten ass-wh- tet's do it together, And anybody tryin' to get

want them using, setting, or deating in no type of drugs, whatsoever. But by the time they grown, drugs witt be a thing of the past.

22

Are you still affiliated with Slip-N-Slide?

That's who I got my deat through, Stip-N-Stide.

But I atso have my own Label, Dunk Ryders En-

care nothing about that. As long as they respect me, man, a white person coutd call me a "nigga" or a "cracka" and I woutdn't get offended.

ain't gonna betieve this, but I never practice with the band. They know what they're You

doing and I know what I'm doing, so we just go out there and it's natural. I use signaLs to tetl

'ern when to break or when to end that song.

Sometimes, when you vibin'on the stage, you might even drag that song out an extra minute without the peopte knowing it.

You used to rhyme about "smokin'dirty," weed laced with cocaine. You gave that up?

Yeah, I don't smoke dirty no more. I only smoke crip. I got off dirty a tong time ago, like two years ago. My system was just baiting on me.

You don't wanna eat, you don't wanna do nothing but smoke. You wake up, smoke, go to steep, smoke. lquit, ljust said, Fuck jt. You've gotta have a strong mind, though. A lot of peopte just let the drugs take over them and then when it's over, aL[ they can say js, "sorry" or pray and go to God. God gave you the signs atready.

why did you record a song with Khia instead of your labelmate Trin.a for Thug hlatrimony?

There's a path l've got to foltow, moves I've got to make. I tetl Trina to come on, but she don't

listen. 5o whenever she starts back listening, they'Lt get the Trick and Trina song.

Do you consider your music

to be "real hiphog," Southern music, or both?

I don't know what hip-hop music is. I just thought hip-hop meant "black." Personalty, betieve that anybody from across the wortd who listens to my music witt respect me as a man. There's att kinds of music out there that I

Your new album is more commercial than your previous albums. ls that the label's decision?

I gave them 27 songs, and them the songs they setected. lmean, I'm pteased with the atbum. As Long as my toyal fans are Listening and they feet tike their money was wetl spent, it's good. Other than that, they can atways take it back.

Are there any particular songs gn this album that are mâ&#x201A;Źaningful or personal to you?

Al[ the songs are personat. I Like the chitdren's song, the one with me and Ron Istey, "Jump on the Dick," "4Eva," "Let's Go," att that shit. All my shit is personaL.

are pretty ly.ical. Being from the South, do you think they're respected a5 MCs? I atways think about that. lf they don't get their respect now, they witt, because me and other niggas are gonna continue to hoLd it down. Not onty that, but everybody reppin' atL over the worLd need to be stronger artists. There can't be no sixth man rappin'. l'm tired of these onehit wonders. We need sotid shit. I can't wait to hear the Geto Boys back together, l'm waitin' on that atbum to come out. 'Face is the original G, the first one I heard puttjng the South on the map. I feeL tike I known him since he was a baby, and I wasn't even born yet. Feet me?

selts. You've got pop, rock, and R&8. And some

rap music is twisted up with R&8, and that's some shit we started doing in the South: taking the old songs and remaking them. They're do" ing a tot of sampting now, and that's working.

Times done changed. But, my music witt never be considered as just hip-hop. l've got hjp-hop songs on my atbum, if that's what they want to calL it, and l've atso got some btues on there.

Blues is

just tatkin' about probLems.

Do you feel like the Miami radio stations are supportive enough of thel'r own artists?

I think they are. They've supported me, Trina, Pitbutl, Jacki-o, Dirtbag, Luke, and Do-Wrong.

Some people forgot that it's njggas Uke Luke and Disco Rick that first started setling ptatinum records in Miami. Luke got long money.

They coutd say whatever they want about Luke, that he broke or whatever, but Luke did some touring for years. Touring is where the money

at. I never djd touring. lvly money ain't shit compared to the money Luke and Disco Rick

got, and look at the doors they opened for me and other muthafuckers around here.

Why don't you tour? You don't like being on

the road?

Nah, they just don't be wantinq

to pay me.

Since you've worked with 5() many artists, is there one collabo you enjoyed the most?

Itiked working with Mystikat, and me and JT [Money] made a lot of good hits in our days. Me and Luke got a tot of good memories together. I worked wjth Baby, and I did songs with Pac. That song with me and T.l. and Lil' Wayne was gangsta.

It's a tot of people I enjoyed workin'with, from Trina to Pit. I can't even name 'em al[. I woutd tike to get a Neptunes track, l'd tike to work with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop, Daz, and Kurupt, att them niggas represent the West coast. Kanye West, Twista, Netty & the St. Lunatics representing the Midwest. Juvenite and his ctique - altthose peopte I named, I woutd tike to work with them if I haven't already. These are the peopte l'm feelin' right now that got hot albums out: me, of course, Lit Wayne, Il., and I tove the B.G, atbum. I wanna get B.G. signed to my tabet. l'lt probabty go back and get Mia X, too. Da Brat did her thing and I tistened to MC Lyte back in the days, but other than that, between Mia X and Foxy, I don't think no hoes ever came across on a record that strong.

All of the Southern artists you just mentioned

Anything else you want to ray?

Niggas' main probtem is that they don't know who they are. lf you don't know who you are and where you come from, how the helt are you gonna know where you going? I know what I am and what I represent: atL the reat niggas.

Fuck niggas atways gon'be fuck niggas, they have been att my tife, If you don't know me, just know this: l'm 'bout a tot of things, but I ain't 'bout that buttshit. I been everywhere but the etectric chair and seen everything but the wind. I'm a diehard Miami Dotphins fan. Fuck Ricky MLtiams. My Miami Heat, we'tt see y'al[ jn the muthafuckin'championship. The Hurricanes are a tit' shaky this year with some softass linebackers, but we'l[ make it. And atways remember: l'm the muthafuckin' Dade County major, the don dada of the Dunk Ryders, bitch!

What do you think of OZONE? I think you gonna make some money this year.

We're done. How did you like the interview?

It wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be. You must have written those questions especiatty for me.

I I

23'.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Shawn Prez worked his way up from an unpaid intern to Senior Director of Promotions for Bad Boy Records. ln addition to being a part of P Diddy's management team, he's also

formed his own company, Power Moves Marketing & Promotions.

Their clients include record labels in addition to major corporations like AT&T, Pepsi, EA Sports, and sony Playstation, What was your career path? Did you go to college?

I did go to coltege. I studied Economics and Secondary Education at SUNY-Binghamton. Looking back, I probabty wouLd've taken those five and a hatf years and just worked towards my future career, At the time, I just didn't know what I wanted to do.

At what point did you start transitioning into the music businers?

I was doing cotlege parties, but at the time I didn't reatty look at it as a career. lt was just something I tiked to do for fun. I was making reat good money, but I never took jt seriously because it just wasn't something you studied in schoot. But it hetped me become more and more businessminded. To do a party, it might seem tike atL you're doing is catting a bunch of your friends, but it's a whote lot more than that. You've got to negotiate deats with shiesty ctub owners and deat with record tabeLs to bring in artists. I brought every act who was hot at the time: Pete Rock

& CL Smooth, Nice & Smooth, Brand Nubian, Das EFX. I had an ill crowd. lf you were in any New York state cotlege, chances are you were coming to our events. I started deating with management and records tabets to bring in acts, and that was my segway into the music business.

Do you have a "Kanye West" attitude towards college?

That's probabty one of the best questions l've ever been asked. And yeah, it's true, I reatly do have a Kanye West attitude towards coltege.

The reason it took me so tong to graduate is cause I took two semesters off. lt was my tife's mission to find out what I wanted to do with my tife. My career was extremeLy important to me, even at that young age. I was away at school, and you have nothing but fun on a cotlege campus. But my mind was focused on ten, twenty years down the road.

I teft school because ldidn't know what I wanted to do. ljust knew for a fact that it wasn't in any of those books or classes I was taking. I fett brainwashed, A tot of peopte are brainwashed. From the time you're very smatt, society tetts you that if you go to school, that's great. You did reat good, your famity's proud. Especiatty if you're a young btack man, I was the first person in my famity to ever go to schoot so that was a major achievement. ln society's eyes and my famity's eyes I was doing extremety wetl. They wanted me to go for a more tradjtjonal career, but I knew that a 9-5 was never me. I've atways been a hustLer at heart.

Why did you go back and finish?

It'sjust like anything etsein my life. You can ask anybody who knows me. I won't lose at shit. lf I start something, best

believe I'm gonna finr'sh it untess God strikes me down. l'm trying to win, and win big. When I teft schoot, I thought I wanted to be a party promoter. I was

an internship at Atlantic Records.

Coutdn't stand it. I got frustrated

with record tabets. After those internships, lwas [ike, man, if that's what it's tike then I reatty don't want to be a part of the music business. I was actuatly a social worker for a coupte years, doing my parties on the side.

B llAltlE MSH: IHESE GIIYS' WORK ET}IIC IS N(nEDIBIE."

at this dude [ike, your group sold two records - what are you tatking about? But the point is, he had that same attitude that he has today, so it's not hard to see why he's made it to where he's at. Even back then, he had that attjtude: you might be in the position, but I can stitL do the shit better than you, I'm smarter than you, I have more hustle than you, and I know this fuckin' music better than you. A iot of the people working at Atlantic were older. They'd had their jobs for twenty years. How can you get somebody to be motivated and be out in the ctubs breakinq a rap act if alt they're worried about is their pensjon plan, or whatever the fuck they

get after twenty years? 50, Dame was trying to get Jay-Z a sjngle deal. I guess

they kjckin' themsetves in the ass right now for that one.

Were these paid internships?

These were att unpaid.

How did you survive? Ramen noodles?

Exactty. Honestty, I was fucked up. But, l've always been good with saving my money. I was usinq up the money in my bank account and livinq very very tight.

How did you end up at Bad Boy?

for

just want to say for the record that Bad Boy js the shit. wouLdn't want to work at any other tabeL untess they're willing to cut seven years, and I

Finatty, a friend of mine totd me that Bad Boy was looking for an intern. At first I was hesitant.

I

me a helL of a check (loughing). When lfinaLty reatjzed what lwanted to do with my tife, I just went back to schoot to comptete it, I realLy had no interest in schoot. I was doing internships while I was in schoot. This was in the early 90's. did an internship at Arista

lhated it. Then ldid

OZONE MAGMINE DEC/JAN 2OO5

ACCIDENT, PUTI,

SmMoNt MASnR

watked up in the office tike a fuckin' savage asshole. l'l[ never forget it: he had a big argument up in there Like, "l should be runnin'this whote fuckin' black music department, Y'all don't know shit." And l'm Looking

and finished it off. I didn't even go to my graduation, I just wanted to get out of there.

2r'

NOTAII

RUSSET.T

they don't even have leveraqe. Dame had no leverage but he stitt

good money. So, atl things considered, I was doing realty good. ljust went back

I

THEIRA((0MPISHMilIS ARE

Who were some of the acts you worked with at Atlantic?

Believe it or not, I tried to get Jay-Z signed to Attantic. I was begging them, Dame Dash had a group on Atlantic catted Original Ftavor. And I swear to God, Damon is the exact same person today. That cocky attitude. His group was not doing weLt, so most managers wouLd know

happy. I mean, if you've got 53,500 cash in your pocket each week, that's

Records and

IvE NOTIGD ABOIIT

SUCCESSR'I PEOPIE IS IHAT

Why did you hate the internships at Arista and Atlantic?

I knew that I toved the jndustry ljust djdn't tove it in that capacity. I knew there had to be something better. Theywere extremety corporate.

At those labeLs, you're extremety compartmentatized. lf you're working in one department, they don't alLow you to venture into anything etse.

Me, l'm a free spirit. I tike to conquer, I like to fuckin'just take over. lv{y first internship atArista was in pubticity, and tjteratty, all I did every day att day was pubticity stuff: took in papers, see if anyArista artists made the paper, cut out ctippings. Come on. Then I was at Attantic in the A&R department, and again, att they wanted me to focus on was AER. At the time lwas working with a guy named Xevin woodtey, who became my mentor. He'd let me do my thing, go to the studio, set up studio time, and do a Lot of the paperwork on the backend. But I had ideas past just creating a hot atbum. Over there, once jt's out of the A&R's hands, it'5 titeralty out of their hands. Once the project js out of the studio, they don't want you to have anything to do with developing it. Even though you've nurtured the act from day one, you don't get to be a part of the process of hetping btow that act up. I hated that. And in the meetings, titeratly, you couldn't even throw your ideas out.

making a coupLe G's a week and I was

l've been working at Bad Boy

..WHAT

qqbre

what was different about the Bad Boy internship?

When I came to Bad Boy, I swear to you, I knew after the first day. tt was peopte who Looked tr'ke me, acted tike me, tatked tike me, and had the same energy as me. Bad Boy was an office no bigger

than this room we're sitting in right now. We were on 19th St. This was in between Biggie's first and second aLbums, so he was just starting to btow.

Nobody was professionat. lt was not a corporate atmosphere. But it was the hungriest group of young black executives I'd ever seen in my tife, and I fett Like I betonged. After the first day, I waLked out of the office and I knew that this is where l'd make my mark in the industry. I knew it. Here, it doesn't matter what you do. Like, I have the titte of Senior Director of Promotions, but I'm invotved in every aspect: marketing, A&R, everything, Here, everybody's invotved. You can wear as many hats as you choose to wear as long as you don't drop the batt. We're muttitaskers; sotdiers. lf you want to join an army, go to one of those other ptaces. But if you're trying to get down with the Navy Seats and green berets and you want to be on the front tines of some speciat ops mission, that's the kind of energy I fett at Bad Boy. I fit right in. There's been a Lot of peopte in and out over the years, but I knew I woutd somehow find my way through the ranks because the energy matched mine. lot of people, Bad Boy is synonymous with P Diddy. He's known as being a perfectionist; is it difficult to work for him?

As a l.)ss, lthink he's a genius. ldon't have anything bad to say about him, and even if I did, I wouLdn't say it in a pubtic arena out of respect.

What l've noticed about successful peopte is that it's no accident that To a

they're successfut. Whatever achievements they've made in tife, it's no accident, untess you hit the totto or something (taughing). When you took at Puff, Russell Sjmmons, Master B Dame Dash, or even someone who's not as much in the pubtjc eye tike Steve Stoute, these guys'work ethic js incredibte. I meet peopte every day who ctaim, "l want it, I'lt work hard," but they don't know the fuckin' meaning of working hard.

Working hard is going days on end with no steep. lt's when a thousand watLs and obstacles are put in your way and you don't stop. lnstead of saying, "l can't do this," you just figure out a way to go through it, around it, over it, or whatever. You figure it out. lf you don't know Puff, the best way I couLd describe him is to listen to him when he says, "Can't stop, won't stop." That's who he is. lhis dude is a fuckin' machine, I mean, lwork harder than, tike, 90% of the peopte I know (shdwn turns to Power l'/'oves' publicist: "Who works harder than me? For reol?" She shoket het heod, "l con't think of anybody.'). Wett, anyway, as hard as I work, I swear to you, there's never been one day in my career that I fett like I worked harder than Sean "P Diddy" Combs. He's a beast.

With all the other projects Puff works on, do you feel like the record label itself suffers?

WeLt, Puff does have a lot of other thinqs going on. 2004 was a great year for him. He ran the marathon, then went on to Broadway and soLd out every night in Roiiin in the then he came off that and went on the campaign trail with Vote or'un, Die. ldon't necessarily think the tabet suffers because he chooses to grow as a cetebrity and an indivicruat, I think that the artists on the tabeL gotta step up. That's Like saying FocA-Felta can't survjve without Jay-2, But Jay-Z is one artist. lf the rest of artists don't truLy grow and do their part, you can't blame him.

Who do you think is gonna step up for Bad Boy? We've got some new actsr fresh btood. I was in the studio tit 2 A.Il\ yesterday messin'with some new music. We've got a groupr Boyz r'n the Hood, which is a Southern group that's reatty startin' to pop off. I think they have something. I :hink they're bringing another side of the South.

Lit Jon and what he's doing is more crunk, in-the-ctub, throw-ya-handsup type music, but these guys are more gritty and street. lf you Look at portions of the south, you can see that they don't catt it Dirty South for nothin'. Their shit is reatly street, and I think that's what they're reflecting, We atso have a group calted 85, which i5 five brothers from Attanta. Quote me on this: this group is gonna be a monster. They're

so tatented. They sing, they dance, they're photogenic, they ptay instruments, and I think they're gonna fitL that vojd of where B2K left off, cause there's reatty nobody in that space right now.

You were involved in the filming of aking the Bond. war the storylines we saw on TV accurate, as far as what actually happened? was not doctored for TV. The shit was was. Everything you saw't on /tloking the Eand was reat; it was not staged. But, I think there's a bigger picture. I don't think the group members reatty wanted it. I think they're a good exampte of what many artjsts are today. They may think they want to be the biggest artist in the world and win Grammys, but there's a work ethic and an appreciation and love for the game that comes with it. As taLented as that group was, l'm not sure that they had an intense love for the game, They I tived through /tlokiDg fhe Bond.

what

it

weren't prepared to give 200% of their lives to become superstars, and that's what it takes. li not, you're gonna be weeded out. I think what everybody saw on TV is indicative of the music business as a whote. A tot of peopte get in the musr'c business for the wrong reasons, and then they find out very quickty that tliis is a business. When you got the Ceat, you can waLk in any ctub in your city and everybody's stopping their cars, putting over to get autographs. But when you don'! have that hit record no more and your video isn't ptaying, when you get to the ctub they putting you at the back of the tine..And you've gotta pay. there any member of Da Band that you personally clicked with?

Yeah, absotutety. Three of them. Probabty Choppa the most, that's tike my tittte brother. He's on Bad Boy South, and his new stuff is phenomenat. Choppa's a star, no question. latso cLicked with Ness and Babs, those were the main three. And coincidentatLy those were atso the three that ended up gettjng kept. I know for a fact that it was their work ethic that kept them around. lt wasn't Uke we just cut peopte, we actuatty sat down and had a meeting to decide who stays and who goes.

It was me, Puff, Harve lPierre], Conrad [Dimanchel, and Phil lRobinson], and most of our decision was based on their work ethic. Choppa'r tike a tit Puff when it comes to his work ethic, and Ness and Babs too.

Was

Besides work ethic, what does it take to be successful in the music business in general?

First and foremost, you've got to have that work ethic. SecondLy, and this is equatty important, you've got to have a love for what you do. l'm not just talking about music, I'm tatking about Ufe. lf you love doing something, you won't mind getting up in the morning.

What is it you love about the music business?

I tove the fact that lwent from being an intern to being part of Puffy's management team. I tove the fact that I conquered the promotions end of it. I started on the street team, then I was running the NY street team, then I was running the national street team and deaLing with mixtape DJs. Then I became the national promotions director, and now l'm a part of Puffy's management team. Plus, the fact that I was abte to create my own company and work with other ctients, which onty enhances the strength of what we do at Bad Boy. How are you able to work at Bad Boy and run your own company? staff. i\y company is Powei Moves Marketing & Promoticns.

A good

Do you focus mainly on street teams?

That is part of what we do, one of the foundations. But outside of

Bad Boy, I deal

wjth almost no record tabets. I reatty have to betjeve

in your record to get behind it. A tot of the corporate ctients we deaL with are just now being introduced to the concept of street teams. We atso do high"end pubLicity stunts. Like, for exampie, Spike TV is one of our clients, They had a show catted "l Hate My Job," BasicaLty, the premise for the show is peopLe who hate their jobs doing the regutar rigmarote, so they quit their iobs to pursue their dream job. Rev At Sharpton was their ambassadorj he was kinda like what Trump is to The Apprentice. He woutd hetp usher them into their new careers. So, we did this publicity stunt where we got a bunch of At Sharpton Lookatikes. The whote point of a pubticity stunt is to get free pubticity. 5o, on the morning the show wa5 introduced, you're watking through Times Square and you see alt these Al Sharptons. Of course, you're gonna stop and look. We got att this pubticity on Fox & Friends, ChanncL 1'l WB, and a bunch of newspapers. That was somlthing that didn't cost much in comparison to traditionaL advertising. They got an asstoad of free pubticity, which hetped launch the show in the right direction.

How could someone get in contact with you to hire Power l oves?

They can calt 212-381-1578 or go to www.PowerMoveslr',c.com .

there anything else you'd like to say? for Boyz in The Hood, 85, and Btack Rob has a new atbum dropping this spring. And ljust want to emphasize for anybody who's reatty struggting with where they want to go in their career that you have to beLieve in yoursetf enough that you're wiLting to burn the bridges of retreat. That might even mean quitting your job. As Long as you have something to fatl back on, you're never gonna go 200%. lf you put your tife on the tine, you'tL find a way to succeed in whatever you're tryjng to do, That's it. And shouts to OZONEI ls

Watch out

- Photos and interview by Julia Beverly, ib@ozonemag.com

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN

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OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN 2OO5

So, you're the Memphis mack, but how did you end up in Atlanta?

My dad used to bring me to Attanta back in the days for the Jack the Rapper conventions. He was a big wig, so I got the best of it. My dad

ImPene

was a musician, and my mom was a background singer for a tot of big names Uke Barbara Strei-

sand. I started off singing and then rapping. been rapping since like '89.

I

When did you start getting into production?

I actualty Learned how to produce when peopte

were late for sessions. I was sitting there with att this equipment waiting for them to come, and realLy I was just tetting them what to ptay.

What project are you working on now?

I'm working on my atbum, Ihe 8ig Love atbum.

It's stated for a retease sometime next year.

Didn't you sign a deal with Cash Money?

I did a fifty song production deat with them, which is stitt going on. But as an artist I'm actuatty signed to Attantic Records, As far as my other artists, l've got Jody Breeze at Warner, Young Jeezy is a joint venture with his tabel and my tabel Sho-Nuff through Def Jam, and Ciara is on Jive, L,A. lReid] actuatty gets the praise for discovering Ciara on a major levet. He was tike, "She's the one," but then the labets merged and he went to Def Jam so we had to hand her proiect over to Jive. But it turned out to be a good thing because Jive was abLe to take her through the same channets as Britney and Christina and att them. They got [Ciara'5 record "Goodies"l up to tike 10,000 spjns a week.

Are you sick of hearing it?

Never. I'lt never get sick of hearing it. You always think you're gonna get sick of hearing your own stuff, but you never do. You might get tired of it, but not sick. There's a difference.

When did you sign Ciara?

About three years ago. She was in a group, and a friend totd me about her. When we met, I hadn't even heard her voice and I didn't even know she was the one in the group he had been talking about. I was Uke, "She's the one," and they were tike, "Yeah, she is the one." 50 we just hit it off from there. We've been tatking every day since then.

What about Young Jeezy and Jody Breeze?

Jeezy atready had records out in Attanta and I had kjnda caught wind of him and met him in the streets. I ain't know who he was at first, I was tatking to him and he toLd me he rapped, and I wa5 tike, Yeah, right. You know, he's a hustter type. He knows how to get money. So we just got together and recorded, and I totd him if he wanted to take it major to let me know One stop and we got a deaL. With Jody, my manager was at a car show and Jody was in a battte. He's tive on the mic, takin'dudes out teft and right.

[My manager] brought him out to a concert and that's how we met, People 5ay Jody kinda sounds like T.l.

Yeah, l've heard that. I thjnk they tatk about some of the same things cause they're from the same lifestyte. And with Jody and T.l. it's just the tone of their voices. But, T.l. is a

littte more mature with his tyrics.

Jody's young and he's stitt tatkin' about headbussin' and that kinda stuff.

Jazze, Jeezy, Jody? ls that just a coincidence? (ioughing) Yeah, we thought about that

too. lt just happened that way.

you're findlng artists that just have raw potential and developing them. What's the most challenging part of that process?

So

Making them understand that everybody's deal is not gonna flow perfectty [ike, for example,

Ciara's did. Ciara is a special situation, it's probably not going to happen tjke that even for me and l've been around for years. Sometimes the gates just open for you. When it's your turn, it's your turn. Sometimes you might have a record done and the worLd just ain't ready for you, At first the onty buzz [Ciara] had was inside the industry because everybody wanted to sign her. I reatty didn't give a tot of peopLe the chance to hear the record in advance, because I atready knew L.A. Reid's competence for music wjth femaLes. You've gotta took at Toni Braxton and all the other femates he's heLped devetop.

Why do you think Atlanta ha5 developed into such a huge force in the music world?

I think Attanta has always been a huge force.

Right now it's just swetled up, because just Like everything eLse it retracts and it btows again.

I think some of the best producers are based here in Attanta, and that has a lot to do with it: Organized Noize, Daltas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, 0J Toomp, Lit Jon, Outkast, and mysetf, for exampLe. For a record labet, the ideat ptace to create something massive is here. There's no ptace on earth that you coutd reatLy go and top Atlanta when it comes to production.

Since the game is so production-driven, with a hot track like "Goodies," do you think anybody could haYe made that song a hit?

No. There's a few peopte coulda done it, but I don't think nobody etse coutda putLed it off,

the whote picture, the way [Ciara] did. That was a crunk & B singte, of course, that's Jon

siqnature. But her styte is definitety not crunk & B,

it's just fly and sexy. She's got a smooth side

to her, Her record is very smooth, metodic, and captivating. People love her project.

Since Ciara blew up so quick, have you seen

her go through a lot of stress and changes?

Ithink stress and changes just come with the game. lt's new to her, of course, but the best thing is that l've seen her go through teis stress with great success than a lot of peopte go through with minor success. Some peopte can't handte even minor success. So I think she's a speciat, speciaL person. lt's not an act. If she walks in this room, she's gonna hug him, him, me, and you, and she ain't never met y'alt. That's just how she is. she'tI make you warm up to her, and I think that's the ingredients of a superstar. She's not a star, she's a superstar.

Besides Ciara, what other artistr have you been working with lately?

Murphy Lee, Ruben Studdard. ljust mixed Fantasia today, and I'm doing Mary J Btige soon. Like, ever

since the Ciara thing, every female artist under the sun has catted me. she's the hottest femate in the game right now. lt's crazy.

And you're on the radio too, right?

Yeah, lAttanta's WHTA] 107.9 every Saturday 6-10 PM. lt's The Penthouse, with Mami Chula and DJ Hershey. We've been doing that for two and a hatf years now. I've atso got a syndicated show that's in forty different stations. That starts next month, How did you get the radio gig?

Just doing radio interviews and putting my personatity in there and taking over. When I put the headphones on, it'5 just tjke l'm in the studio.

You've got your own separate votume, and I turn mine att the way up. The louder it is, the crazjer I might get. I take off tike I'm in another wortd.

you've got a split personality? l've got, titeraLly, a bunch of personatities. lcan't

So

name 'em atl, though, I'm gonna save them for my album. lwanna surprise everyone. ls it gonna be like Cassidy's album, where each personality gets half ol the CD? (loughing) Nah, it's gonna be everybody invotved. lt just depends on what the song catls for.

'

lnterview and photo by Julia Beverly OZONE IIAAGAZINE DEOJAN 2M5

6

OZONE MAGAZINE DEOJAN 2OO5

DEVNTHEDUDE %:

-t"

ni*srf '

-"'

But

if

you ever got caught tistenjng to one

Pryor's comedy aLbums (where there were pLenty of As, B's, F's, and 5's in the Engtish language) you'd get one of those beatings that taught yoLr how to use syLtabtes {"what-did-ltetl you...").

Devin Copeland, better known as Devjn the Dude, definjtety knew the repercussions of lis' teninq lo a Richard record, so he aLwavs had a Plan B in case his mother walked in the room.

"Man, shiijjt," he grins while reminiscjng about listening to Pryor. "l was never caught because I aLways had an alternative vinyt on the side to cover

jt

up.

used to Love

to listen to comedy, and l'd get

a bLast from lhe vinyt they had back in the

dat"

the Houston native. He also was inspired by the Likes of Johnny "Gujtar" Watson, The

says

Bar-Kays, The Ohio Players, and Bootsy Collins.

"When lstarted rapping lfigured I'd put some humor in tt," he says.

ability to keep people taughjng through their tragedjes can easily qarner Devjn distinctions

Even though his uniqLre styte and

Ljke "The Richard Pryor of Rap," a deeper look would show you that untike Mr. Pryor,

Mr

,i,

lir

,

cj: i,.

to aski "What record

they can tjsten to and retate to other than talking abolrt what my problems are."

for a stable of re spectable artists jnciuding Dirt, Yukmouth, leLa, Big Mike, and the recentLy defected Do or Dje. ln other words, a tabet that has nationat distribution but mjnimaL pop appeat.

Wjthout relying on bteak tates about gunptay, botched drug deaLs, and dead homies, or imaginary tales about Maybachs sitting on 24's, Devjn has deveioped a cult fotLowine by crafting tunes centered around the struggles of an ordinary manHis first and second soto outjngs, 1998's seslept'on The Dude, and 2002's crjticallyacctaimed Just Tryin'la Live, came packaged with an origjnaL btend of wjtty, laid'back iyrics from the r.ind of man who is a perfect fit both of the A.D.I.D.A.5. acronyms {Att Day I Dream About sex and Ait Day I Drink And Smoke). vereLy

But his tatest offering Io lhe Xtreme has Devin wearing F.l.L.A.'s {Finaity I Left Adidas} this time around as the atbum is metiower and less expLjcit.

"On the first CD it was a Lot of partyjng and a tot of fun, " says the artist who rnade his formal introduction into the game in 1994 as a member of The Odd squad. "But as tjme goes on it gets more serjous and it becomes more of a job so I just wanted to get laid back with it jnstead of wilding out too much."

Though Devin is growing towards producing

more "serious" music, it has been his carefree nature that has [auded him a rare respect from fettow artists that has ted to coveted carneo appearances on projects by Scarface, Dr Dre, The Roots, De La Soui and even the iLL'fated Jay-ZlR. KeLly Best of Both Worlds album.

Copetand wouLd much rather make

i- r o' lj'e rtlelf than

poke fun

.

"The peopte want to hear certajn things but woutdn't make them happy or feeL good if I'm atways talking about me," says Devjn when as(ed why he doesn't say mdrh dboul hrr pe,sonal tife. "l would tike to have something that

it

"

ln between swit,.hing and hiding records, Devjn managed to listen to just enough Pryor, Redd Foxx, Rudy Ray Moore, and Blowlty to create hjs own brand of rap music that meshes adutt hLrmor with exceptionaL lyricism.

"l

\

lal,

l1

Back in the day. when djscjpljne via bett and/or extension cord was perfectiy legat, there were two things you "bet' not" get caught wjth in your mama's house: a bad report card and a Richard pryor album. lf you got an "F" in Eng' tish, yolr'd expect to get a whlppjng aiong with an "l onLy did jt because I Love you" speech.

of

ffi]

at

hi)

Devin's popuLarjty among his peers has atso caused many out'of-the-loop music Ijsteners

Labet is he on?" The answer is Rap-A-Lot, the legendary Houston-based record tabet that is responsibLe for iconoctastic acts such as the 6eto Boys.

Rap-A-Lot has been the home

"Labels have asked me if i'm stiLt on Rap-A-Lot, when is my tast album with them, and at{ of the questions that go around bejng interested," he says. "But nobody has jLrst straight Lrp asked me

'Hey, why don't you come over here wjth us, man?"'

He continues by defendinq his decision to stay with the iabet gave him his start in the rap game. "lt has its advantages. We qet a lot of respect and get a lot of things accompLished beqause IRap' A'Lotl don't mind me moving around and doing different things myseLf. lts aLmost tike l'm stjLl independent. They don't try to structure me or teLt me to do this and that to qet more record saLe!. i get to be my own person afd ldon't have to go out of character."

Similar to his comedjc influence Pryor, Devin js never out of character; you never know what's gojng to come out of his mouth. That's the main realon why so many curious adoiescents felt the wrath of the leather strap after gettjng caught tjs tening to Pryor on wax . which causes you wonder jf Devin's kids get jn troubte for bumping daddy's CDs.

"No, but they used to back in the day," taughs the father of four Hjs chitdren range from ages two 11. "Now that they're older l'm a tjttLe bit more tenjent on them and I let them listen to lmy musicl. But certain songs, I be tike, 'Naw, naw naw, you gotta turn that one offl" - Maurice G- Garland

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There's been some debate among Southern rap fans as to whether fhe Carter is a classic or not. Would you classify it as a classic? ljust cLassify mysetf in qenerat as a ctassic person, so of course I woutd ctassify everlthing

TJL WAYNTE

I do as classic. But overaLl, spanning my whote career, no, I don't think it's my most compLete album. I haven't put out my most complete atbum yet.

Why isn't it complete? What's lacking?

Just to be more comptete with yoursetf, period, and what you're doing. l'm not afraid to say that I don't know where I'm headed. I mean, I know exactty what I'm doing, but as far as the future it mjght be a coupte years before I figure that out. I'm not tatking about the industry I'm talking about tlfe in general. Once I figure out tife and what it's reatLy about, if l'm stiLt rhyming, it shoutd be easy to put out a comptete album. I stitt don't have a ctue what life is reaLty about. I'm just tatking about what I know, from my perspective, and that's what peopte tove.

Every day, l'm trying to tearn something new.

Why did you film the video for "Go DJ" in a prison? lt really didn't fit the concept of the song.

That was my idea. I wrote the treatment for the vjdeo cause I knew that everybody was expecting it to (ook a certain way. I knew everybody had their own tittle personaLvision of what they thought it woutd be. That was actuatty the prison where they fitmed Shawshank Redemption.

I

nice to see Lil Wayne on campus, because that You ajn't gotta wjg out cause you gon' see me every day.

just makes the schoot better.

heard that you're going to college at the university of Houston and studying psychol- What el5e are you studying? ogy. How does that knowledge help you in the rap game?

PersonaLly, see, that's the whote thing. I dr'dn't go to school to tie it into rap, not one bit. Rap is what I do, I was born with it. I don't even write, I just hear the beat and what comes out is what comes out. So to be abte to do that, it's a btessing. And me bejng abte to go to schooL and take psychotogyr that's a btessing in itself. I feeL tike I know everything there is to know about rap.

I know what to say, when to say it, how to say it, how every beat shoutd sound. Now I wanna know everything there is to know about some" thing eLse. I don't wanna be thirty years otd and iust know about rap. I wanna be abte to tatk to somebody; sit down and have an hour long conversation about something besjdes rap.

Are you bored with rap?

I'm not bored with it, it's just that schooL is important to me. I dropped out of schooL to rap, and I made a promise to my mama that I wouLd go back and finish schoot. I finished for het and l'm stittyoung - l'm 22 - so I'm at that age where cottege sounds fun.

When you're sitting in class, do people treat you like a regular student or like a superstar?

I actualty haven't started yet, I start in Janu' ary But l've been on campus many times. lf people watk up and try to hotta at me and get autographs or hugs, I have no probtems with it.

But the peopte atso respect that there's a dr'fference between seeing a person in the mattor at a show then on a coLtege campus. lf people see me at the matl, they're kinda hesitant to approach cause they think I might be busy shopping or something. At a show, there's no doubt in their minds that they can approach me. But when peopte see me on a cottege campus, they hotd up. l'm in schoot just tike them, so why should

they even trip? They're thinking, it's

Poutjcat science. That's the best thinq they have to offer in law over there at Houston, and I wanted to learn more about the taw.

What's your opinion on the recent eleqtion? ldon't have an opinion cause it don't count.

Do

you plan on pursuing a career in psychol-

ogy or political science?

Rap ain't never gonna fait me, but if I get tired of rap and I've got enough money to open up

my own practice, I might take it up. lf there's it that it's overpowering the money I couLd make over here jn rap, then of

enough money in course.

We recently printed an interview with B.G. where he mentioned that he had a conveGation with you and advised you to leave Cash

Money. ls that a situation where you feel 5tuck in the middle?

As far as that situation right there, man, we aLl brothers. We famity, so you know he gon' speak to me about the situation. I didn't feel tike I was in the middte, ljust fett tike he shoutd do what he gotta do. And betieve me, l'm gonna do what I gotta do.

"l Miss My Dawgs," you sound like you're regretting that the Hot Boyz aren't together anymore. What's the chances of a Hot Boyz On

reunion?

It's funny you ask, because as a matter of fact, I rnay be in a new situation reat soon. lf l'm in a new situation it may be easier to do something.

I don't know about atL the Hot Boyz, but peopLe may be a tittte more accessibte. I may be signing with Jay-z. Right now we just tatking, but it's sounding [ike a good idea.

You have a lot of tattoos; are there any that are particularly significant?

My dad's name. That was my first tattoo, "ln

Memory of Rabbit: lt's

LJp To Me." That was my first tattoo. I was fourteen when my dad passed.

That's the most significant one, because everything else just came after that.

You've been doing Southern music for a long time, so now that the South i5 finally getting recognition in hip-hop, do you feet like you - or Cash Money - had a significant part in that?

I don't know if I ptayed a part. As far as atl the peopte coming down South to do remixes and stuff, you'd have to ask them, cause I don't know, man. I'm a very modest and humbte dude. There's peopte that hate the South cause of Cash Money, so hopefutty there's people that love the South cause of Cash Money too.

You made a comment at The Source Awards about fhe Best of Both Worlds 2 that sounded like a diss to either Jay-Z or R Kelly.

I ain't tryin' to diss R Ketty, and I ain't never tryin' to diss Jay-Z because I might be going overthere as one of his artists. But [R KetLy] did the Eeit o/ Eoth l{orlds 2 thing with lBaby] and they had a whote atbum finished, then att of a sudden this cat jumps back on Jay's dick. He left my dad jn the shadows, so I wasn't feetin'that, personaLty. I ain't even ask Baby or teLl him what I was gonna do, I just went out there and said it. That's the onty way [R Ketty] will hear about it, if I say it in front of a group of peopte. But backstage afterwards, Baby was tike, "Nah, I taLked to hjm atready, everything cootwith that situation." But stilt, as far as Lit Wayne, I didn't respect what [R Ketty] did so that's stitt my opinion, and that was my response. I don't respect what he doing, period. But lain't dissing him, I'm too humbte to diss.

Now that Jay-Z and R Kelly's tour fell apart, how do you feel about that?

That shit has nothing to do with me.

lf you had to list the top five lyricists of all time, would you include yourself on the list?

Of course not, that woutd be crazy. My top five are Jay-2, Jigga. Hova. Shawn Carter, and Eiggie.

- Julia Beverly (Photo: Jonathan Mannion)

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Fabolous might be the calmest dude you've ever met. Maybe it's because he hit the sheets at 5 Alil the night before, or maybe it's because, according to him, he's not on no "star shit." "l don't walk in the room and demand all the attention," F-A-B-O assures, "l'm cool and laid-back. l'm just a regular guy."

FABOI,OUS

Well, not so regular. He's about to drop his third official album, Reol Tolk, on the heels of two platinum CDs. He recently launched his own label, Street Family Entertainment, with artist Mike Shorey. He reps Reebok. He sports matching white and yellow gold and

diamond jewelry: earrings, bracelets, and a hanging pendant with Jesus' head. No, this is not a regular guy, Tell us about your new album,

It's very different from the last two

W"

aLbums.

You're going to hear a lot of my growth and versatiLity on this atbum. lt caters to a tot of ears.

It goes everywhere; it's got some down South, some West Coast, and stitt keeps my East Coast vibe. lt's just hot music in generat.

Why did you decide to name your album Reol Tolk?

I titted

it Reat Tatk because I fett like that was what I was giving the audience, listeners and fans. I'm giving them what l've been through, where been, peopte I've seen and met, ''ve l've gone through, att those situexperjences ation. This atbum is about making good music and being abte to put it in a format that peopte can relate to.

What producers did you work with?

Just Btaze, The Neptunes, Rick Rock, and Scott

Storch, who recentty did the "Lean Back" record. Atso, we've got some producers who didn't have big names but they came with the fire joints. It's notjust about having a big name, it's about coming with a dope beat.

What are some of the things you've experienced in the past year?

Seeing how

the peopte embrace me and show

ldon't have an atbum out.

That's one of the key things l've noticed whiLe I [ove, even when

was moving around and going different ptaces, I get to see the way peopte react when my atbum is coming.

Awhile back, you were having some problems with the cops.

I just think it was a time with some bad karma.

Some things swung back around. The situations

actualty got resotved very quickty. The charges were dismissed, but of course, that's not what gets pubLicized, What you read in the papers is, "Fabotous Arrested With a 6un." That's what they're showjng to the peopte. We fited a complaint and tawsujt against the New York Potice Department just to tet them know that they can't fatsety accuse peopte and wrongty arrest them and then just tet them go. I think anybody out there who's been in a situation like that shoutd definitety fite a complaint or a lawsuit to tet the potice know you're serious about it.

Joe Budden and Game were just going at it.

It seems like you don't have problems with too many other rappers. How do you hanage to stay out of beef?

Beefs are realty

just misunderstandings be-

tween two artists. I stay out of jt because l'm mostLy cool with everybody. Even the peopte l'm not cooL with, I just try to stay away from them. I don't try

to

say

anything about them when l've got the peopte's ears, I don't go jn magazines with recktess tatk.

I just do me. I'm not here to feud and go tit for tat with other rappers. I'm here to make good music, make some money, Beef just isn't one

of the things l'm in the game to do. lf I just wanted to beef with peopte, I coutd've stayed in the hood. There's no need for me to bring that etement to the game. That's not what l'm here for.

Do you think your fan base

tures, and races, going with your record label, Desert

Storm?

The Desert Storm situation is coot. We have a business relationship but we atso have a friendship. Outside of the music, we coot. That's what hetps make the music even easier to make, just being coot on the other side of the stick. Our situation is great.

Your brother Paul Cain is a rapper too. ls he also signed to Desert Storm?

Yeah, he has a situation with Desert Storm where they're just finding out whjch way they want to attack with him. lt's about having the perfect timing. They're figuring out everything and developing him as an artist.

Do you think it's an advantage for you that you don't have a crew? Or did you ever want one?

Not reatly. I haven't even studied

What do you think about Mase's return? A lot of people compared you to him when you first got

into the game.

I was cuTious at first before I heard the music of how he woutd come back and what he was going to say. As time went on and I heard the music, the curiosity went away. After that there's nothing to

go with. He's doing his thing. I'm doing mine.

put my fan base in a box. I think my fans are a wide range of peopte. By the love I receive, it shows me that my fans come in atl different shapes, sizes, ages, backgrounds, cut"

it

that's who l'm with.

I

is mostly fe- think the simitarity came because when you're

mates?

I wouldn't

How's

They may not be rappers but that's my family and

it. ljust

new, peopte assocjate you with things that are similar. lt's tike tasting a food Like frog Legs for the first time, you't[ say it tastes tike chicken.

Tell me about the other business ventures you're working on.

We got a few things in the making. Got a liquor company we're about to do, and a clothing tine catted Rich Young that we're banking on, l'm reading scripts, tooking for the right part. Everything etse

just comes in as it comes, commercials and

stuff like that.

How do you feel about the 5tate of hip-hop in general?

The industry is dojng welt. Peopte are making a tot of money atl over the board. Even other companies are starting to use hip-hop in ways to do things. You see rappers in commerciaLs, movies, clothing tines, sneaker lines. Hip-hop is definitety a bjg market. lt has a huge fottowing and it's a great way to market another product. I just don't want the game to get exploited by various companies who are just dipping into hip-hop to get their buyers and the generation that's assocjated with hjp-hop and they just jump back out of it whenever they feel tike it.

do my

thing and I make the music that I can make. I haven't even thought about it tike, I don't have a ctique, or, Maybe I need to go get a chque. As things come I handLe them accordingty. I don't feel pressure to have a ctique behind me for me to do wett, or for me to feel stabte or peopLe to took at me in a stabLe mode. My ctique is

my famiLy and crew who are with me everyday.

What about for you personally?

Everything's been working good for me. l've been btessed. Fortunatety, I've had the chance to show" case my taLent. I think the music on this atbum is great. lt's going to be one of the atbums you remember, - Jessica Koslow, lovehiphop@aol.com

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' ',

. t.-fii'-

t*'ffil/i f', q.'*f,

t{l

d.i ,','qi '.,.

: "t#

How did the 904 Click get started?

Back in 95, it was me and my brothers Adarn and Vic. That was the orjginat 904 Ctick. My brother [Adam] got shot, and the police trjed to say it was suicide. He had just copped some work and then a couple hours tater he in a hotet with his brains btowed out. The potice said that the way the butLet entered his head, he had to have shot hjmseLf. But everybody who was there skipped town, and the work wasn't there when the police searched the room so lguess they took that too.

How old were you? How did

it affect

you?

I was fourteen at the time. I mean, you know how it js in Jacksonvitle. Shit tike that happens alt the time, but when jt happens to your own brother, it hits home. The shit ain't even seem reaL. I remember one time after that, some oLder njggas had tried us in the malt and lwent to catl my brother. I forgot he was dead. I mean, the rap shit reaLLy died down after that. ln '99

I graduated [high schoot]. I had a

basketbatt

schotarship to SUNY-Delhi in New York, and my momma reatty wanted me to go. lt's way

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OZONE MAGAZINE DEC,dAN 2OO5

upstate, but

atL the niggas who went there were from the city. That's why l've got a Lot of peopte in \ew York. Every nigga on the team was majo.ing in PE. (taughing). I was missin'class every morning, but you know how it is. lf you playing sports, the teachers look out for you. Anyway, I was up there ptayin' batt but I teft in the middte of the season cause my brother convinced me to come back home. He was like, "Come on, we got some papet we been on the grind, we gon'start up this

rap shit again."

I

came back during Christmas

break the first year I was up there.

What happened after you came back home?

Shit was poppin'. That's when [Universat A&R] Tye Dash came down and saw us at this littLe ctub we had with lcoot Runnings DJ] Bitty ["Bigga"] Rankins. They were playing our song on the radio,

everything was poppin'. Tye said Dreamworks wanted to fuck with us, but they were tatkin' about some smaLt-ass paper so my brother turned it down. We were getting limos every weekend to drive us around, tryinq to promote this shit. These bitch ass niggas reatty thought we were battin'. My brother [Vic] had broke up with hjs girlfriend so we

moved into these apartments on the South side.

We hadn't been there for even two weeks. and

jt

was my brother's fuckin' birthday. BitLy was throwjng a party for him and we were performing. Me and my cousin Rico were leaving the house, but my brother and the other CEO of the labet, Matt, stayed behind. We got to the c(ub like twenty minutes tater. My phone had been ringin', and when I got the ctub loverheard my homeboy on the phone saying, "Vic got shot?" l'm tike, "What? Njgga, we just teft the house."

It happened five minutes after we teft. I a! ways answered the door back then, so I atways wondered if it was meanl for me. Them niqqas knocked on the door and asked for some other name, and mV brother was Ljke, "Nah, he don't

tive here." They tried to open the door. My brother is a tatt, skinny nigga, but he's strong.

He put his back to the door, tryjn'to hotd them niggas out. The door stammed on the nigga's

arm white he was tryin'to get his gun out.

These pussy ass niggas just decided to shoot cause they couldn't get what they wanted, so they shot through the door and it hit him jn his back. Then they ran out tike some bitches. They

didn't even get shit, so what was the point?

That's how shit is in JackonvitLe. Niggas be watchin' to see what you've got.

Did your brother Vic survive the shooting?

He's paralyzed from the waist down, and he can never walk aqain. BitLy shut the whoLe ctub down that night. That was the first time in eleven years he'd ever shut the ctub down early. They att came over to the hospjtal. That was some real-ass shit, that's why l'lt atways respect Bitty. His brother had got shot back in the day, so he was somebody I coutd retate to and tatk to. He came and said some good words, and it made me feel a littte better, Why do you think Jacksonville is so rough?

I don't know. There's just a lot of hate, Nobody wants to see somebody etse doing better than them, I don't know if it's tike that everywhere, but that's definitety how it is here. I get a lot of respect now because niggas seen my brother get shot, and I stjtt push him in a wheetchair wherever we go. PeopLe ask me why I carry so many

guns, welt, that's

the

reason.

That shit couLd happen at any time. lt coutda been me. I was

said that shit or not, but that's what lwas totd.

And a lot of radio jocks be hatin'too. Like, G Wiz - I don't give a fuck, l'tl put his name out there - he wa5 like, "904 CLick need to go back to setlin' crack." lf you black and you from the hood, everybody been in the game. I don't gjve a fuck who you are. Everybody got a story to tetl, Just tike SBatt say, "Everybody know everybody done sotd a tit'dope." That ain't shit, Just cause you sett dope, that don't make you a real nigga. Real niggas do reat things. You judge a nigga by how he handte certain situations. Look at Ja Rule. Them niggas are mittionaires, and But you're a solo artist now: Young Cash? the Feds stitL tryjn'to get them boys. You've Yep, that's me. I stitt rep 904 Ctick cause l'm the gotta take that money and put it into someonty originat 904 Ctick member, I just went solo. thing positive. Most of the niggas in the game are faker so they've got a nigga on they team What other artists have you worked with? doing dirt to make them look reat. That's how I fuck with 5th Ward Boyz, some oLder cats from niggas get caught up. Rea[ niggas know how to Houston. I've done tracks with Mike Jones, Web- put their money into some [ega[ shit and make it bie, and Bun B, and as a group we did a song with pop, But in Duvat lcounty], some niggas, that's Lit Boosie. Mannie Fresh dropped a track for me. att they tive for - just to selt dope. I don't understand that. lf you ain't got no muthafuckin'pLan and you just setLin' dope for no reason, what js your purpose? You'tt die doing that shjt, cause that's the onty way out. Dying or going to jail, one of the two.

..[MY BROTHERI IS PARALYZED FROM .THE WAIST DOWN...THAT'S THE REASON I CARRY SO MANY GUNS. IT COULDA BEEN ME." . YOUNG CASH

in the hospitat every day with my brother. He wasn't even coherent at first, [ike, "Yo, where my motorcycle at?" Tatking crazy shit; that went on for at least a month. I couLdn't deaL with it. He had a traech in his throat, he'd be Leaving ten minute messages askin' me to come up there.

I hate hospitats. After he got coherent, he was real depressed. He wasn't going to rehab, none of that shit. My stepdad let us move into his house, so there I am, an 18-year-otd nigga having to take care of a grown man. You know how nurses have to wipe peopte's asses and att that? I had to do att that shit for my brother. My momma and my aunt helped out, but most of the time, it was just me and him.

What happened with your rap career?

He got shot on October 1'lth, 2000, so for two years after that we was chiltin'. We did put the atbum out, though, Ihe Ldst Doys. Everybody toved that aLbum. We had the 5th Ward Boyz on there. I think we sotd around 1,000 copies. just in this Littte area. We ain't reatty push it nowhere etse. We started getting shit crackin' back in 2002 when we did the remix to our singte "Love to Bat[" wjth lThritt da PLaya of the 69 Boyzl. Ever since then, a nigga been tryin' to get back on the grind. We got a coupLe new members, like a white cat named SJ. That's my dawg, he grew up with me. Everybody used to be tetting me to go solo back in the day, but at the time I ain't reatty feet I was ready. I was young. I been soaking up the game, l've been on the grind making my own connects and l've learned a lot. Rapping is just easy to me, I ain't realLy have no probtems with other group members hating, cause they knew this is me and my brother's dream from the beginning.

artist, do you feel pressure to succeed on behalf of your brothers?

I wouldn't say pressure, but at first I was a littte scared. lt's hard to be doing this shit by yoursetf. There's pressure when you're doing a whote atbum by yoursetf. When you're in a group, it's way easier. OriginaLty it was me and my brothers and my cousin Rico. After my brothers got shot and Rico just faded away, we had another cat who came in, but it stitt ain't feet tike the ot' 904 Ctick. I wasn't reatty vibin' with the new cats too welt.

As a solo

to call it 904 Click, were you worried about being limited to Jacksonville?

We wasn't even thinkin' about jt getting that big at the time, we just wanted to take over our littte area and represent Jacksonvitte. Niggas don't rep JacksonvjtLe except [Thritt]. Onty probtem we had was around the time my brother got shot, some niggas came out with 904 Records. Their group ac, tuatly had a different name, but 904 Records was the name of their label so it caused conflicts when promoters were trying to book us. But l'm coot with some of them niggas, so it's att good.

When you decided

Do you agree with the theory that the rap game is the dope game?

Florida that's up on underground rapper5.

I guess being robbed and shot in the dope game ln Jacksonville, we super thug. Anything that's is equivaLent to being in the rap game and gethard and underground, that's what the niggas here ting jerked with a bad record deat, so it's kinda are feetin'. Like, B.G. could come to Jacksonvitle the same thing. They do it with a gun in the and have a show bigger than Juvenite cause he's dope game and with a pen in the rap game. superr super street, and njggas here tove that shjt, (Upstart Record Pool owner Dereck Woshington Have you been talking to any labels? intetjects, "PIus, our rddio stotion here is so for I ain't reatty tryin' to put no names out there, behind in their programming that the mojority of but they been holLerin'. They know that we had the time, people here listen to CDs,") shit poppin' untit my brother got shot. They hear my shit and they think it's tight. I'm stilL Wasn't there an incident a few years ago be- ftickin'with Tye Dash, that's my nigga even if tween 904 Click and C{ear Channel?

I ain't rappin'. I don't even wanna fuck with Ctear Channet, man, they be trippin'. They ptay Universat cause they're Like a Vetcro tabet. They the same thing over and over and over. They act just throw you out there to see if you stick, and like they wanna show the locals some tove, but if your shit fatl off you'tt get dropped. UnLess they don't show tove. Ihere was some major shit you NetLy. (loughtng.) that went down when we got into it with them.

[Ctear Channet's annuat] Come Together Day was 5o what's your plan right now? right when we dropped our single, "Man." This To do it independentLy and get some numbers so was in 2003, There was a new station that had just they'll come hotlerin'. And even if they don't, cranked up, 105.7, and they were bumpin' our shit we'L[ stitl make this money. We re getting spins tike six, seven, eight times a day. lctear Channet right now on WJBT'S mixshow for "Gimme a station WJBTI wasn't even ptayin' our shit. 5o we Bottte," the new singte. were performing, and one of my homeboys said, "We wanna thank 105.7 for ptayjn' our shit." They Do you wanna give any shoutouts? cut our mics off and blackbatted us Like a mutha- To my family, my brother Vic, Matt a,k.a, LiL fucker after that. [TJ's DJ's Record Poot owner] Man, everybody in the 904 Ctick, Dereck WashTJ [Chapman] caLted us right after we teft tike, ington at Upstart Entertainment and Record "Man, y'alt fucked up." And the nigga that said it Pool, Bigga Rankins and the Coot Runnings Crew was one of the new members of the group, so he Bigga Rankins been showin' me tove ever since didn't reatly know att the potitics, He didn't reatty I first met hjm on FLorida Ave. when t was eighunderstand that it was a Ctear ChanneL event, but teen Levi Jordan a.k.a. The Boss, my nigga jt tooked tike we did the shit on purpose so we Tye Dash in NY, my homegirt Renee in ATL with had to stand by what was said. But, they wasn't lnfinity Productions, my nigga Karim in ATL, alt showin' a nigga no Love anyway, so what did we the DJs that fuck with me in Duvat, and the Hithave to lose? Anyway, now that l'm doing the soto tmenn DJs. My Texas famity; my niggas T Farris, shit, l'm tryin'to leave that behind.

Mike Jones, and Pautwatl, and the teqend Bun B. TJ's DJ's, my tattoo artist Eric, my street team Doc Wynter, who's responsible for controlling in Duvat (Swote Dogg, Mike Mike, MarioAndretti, nationwlde urban playlists for Clear Channel, is Smattwood, and K Btack), my hype man Midget based right here in Jacksonville.

Mac, and atL the real niggas in the struggte in ldon't know what to say about that cat. They Jacksonvitle. And I can't forget my girt JB who needed another artist for [Come Together Day be on the grind more than atl you niggas ctaim2004] and our name came up. From what I was ing y'att grindin'! R.l.P. to att the niggas who totd, [Doc Wynter] said, "ls that them cats that didn't make it to 2005. And I been peepjn'game said something about that other radio station last from my njgga Mjke Jones: if y'atL wanna hotta year? Fuck them niggas." I don't know if he reatty at me, catt me at 904-622-6229.

Jacksonville alway5 seems to be the first city in

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC,{AN

2M5

15

What are you guys working on right now?

Norc of Do or Die: Wett, right now, we're concentrating on our aLbum which is coming out February 1st. Kanye West produced our first singte, "Higher," that's what we're focusing on

DO ORDIE

now for radio.

Tell us about the album - guest appearances, production, and io forth.

Kanye atso did another joint on the atbum. DJ quik did something for the West coast, we've got my man Scott Storch who did the "Lean Back" beat, the Legendary Traxter, and we've got Sasha and Bounty Kitter on the album. lt's off the chain. Right now we're ctosing it off with Twista, so you know there's gonna be some heat on the atbum. We're taking it to another tevet, with experience we're taking it to new heights. lt's more commerciat but we know we've got the streets covered. We can't teave the streets behind because that's where Do or Die came from.

How did you hook up with Kanye West for your 5ingle, "Higher"?

Kanye used to Uve out on the South side, where I tive. We did some work with hjm previously, but it was never out in the pubtic, We flew out

to L.A. and watked in the studio and

Kanye was

tike, "Yo, I got the perfect singte for y'atl! Let's make this happen!" We took it and ran with it.

Good success. ls there a video out

for "Higher"?

Ihe video is out on BET and MTV2, so catt BET and request it. The concept behind the video is just showing the people that

it to another

Do

or Die can take

[eve[.

Do or Die has never really gotten the recognition you deserve - how do you plan to make up for that now?

It's tike they say: the cream soon rises to the

top. You can't hide the cream cause it starts at the bottom, but at the end it rises to the top.

How many albums has Do or Die put out?

We had five with Rap-A-Lot, and then we put out a greatest hits atbum, so this witl be our seventh-

First things first, Do or Die are pioneers. They recognize that atL over the wortd. Jay-Z and att them give us big ups and say we're pioneers.

50 us as pioneers, we teLt our peoptes to stay ahead and keep their business right. Don't never quit, cause Do or Die never quit. You've got to get your music and your business together for something to reaLty happen for you.

87th at one of the ctubs and we decided to make

How do you continue

to stay fresh and

sionate about music after putting out

pas5even

it

worklng out for you with Legion Records?

We came in on a 50/50 deat. We've got fifteen years of experience in the music game, so we can potitic with anyone. We came in hatf and haLf with Rudy, he's the CEO of Legion Records.

Rudy was doing real estate but he wanted to get into the music business. He met me up on How is

it

happen, This is our dream.

you plan to sign other artists? with a new labeL so we want everyone to keep their ears ctose to the radio stations. We'l[ soon be looking for Do

albums?

Yeah. Do or Die is coming

Loving the game. We atso keep God first, but we have to keep the love for the music and stay aggressive with it. We hear other peopte

new artists in Chicago.

doing what we were doing, doing our styte, and we don't want to let them get away with that.

That's why we're coming back. We appreciate them keeping the music game warm for us, but we're back.

What do you thihk of Kanye and Twista's success in such a short period of time compared to you? Do you feel like you were left behind?

We weren't reatty teft behind, we were just in the tab whiLe they were doing their own thing. We respect Twista and Kanye for dojng what they're doing because they're keeping the attention on Chicago. We've never had attention on Chicago tike that, especiatLy in the rap game. We're trying to cting on

with Kanye and Twista to keep Chicago out there.

Lots

of

aspiring artists idolize you,-

especially in Chicago. What words ot wisdom do you have for them?

What'! keeping Chicago in the limelight right Wett, you're

tookin'at 'em right now, you know

what I'm sayin'? (ioughing) What's keeping us in the timeLight is that we're putting out attthe hot music. The Kanyes and Twistas are keeping us out there, and of course R Ketty, he's the main man. R Ketty said he wants to start working with Do or Die and other artists in Chicago.

That's gonna start a trend and hetp keep Chicago artists in the timetight.

How do you think hip-hop has changed since you first got into the gdme?

The hip-hop game has changed cause now it's more about beats and hook than tyrics. The South has reatty taken their sound to a new tevet. This is the Southern wortd now Kanye and Twista have taken their sound to a new levet and created the Chicago wortd. lt's kind of up and down right now with the South and the Midwest-

Do you plan

to have any Southern rongr on this album?

You've got to know that the South was Do or Die's biggest settjng area. We went gotd in the South atone without the Mjdwest. That's kind of crazy, since we shoutd have gone qold in the Midwest without the South. Right now we've got a lot of songs catering to the South, the West, the Midwest, and the East coast, so the atbum's off the chain.

Do you look back on tracks like "Po Pimp" and feel more pressure on yourselves to match the

claslics you've already put out?

Naw, not at atl, cause what we try to do is be creative. We know we can master that "Po Pimp" track, but what we try to do is get a littte more creative and not stick to just one sound. Going down the line, we might come back with something simitar. Like, we came back with Back to the Game with that same Do or Die formuta. But, this atbum here is on a whole new tevel.

Are there any particular DJ5 that have helped push this single?

Man, att the DJs - South, East, West, and North, Everyone's heLped us push this song to over 1,500 spins, lt's one of our biggest songs right now. What we're doing right now is working on the R Ketty song and the Twista song so we can keep the fire going.

Have you select€d a second single?

We're not sure yet which song jt's gojng to be, but I guarantee everyone's gonna love it.

Who were your musical influences?

I used to be in tove with the New York cats tike Rakim and Koot G Rap. Later it was Scarface and my main man Dr. Dre. Lots of cats influenced me.

Tupac and Biggie, of course. They hetped give the music game new trends.

Anything elre you'd like to say to your fans?

Do or Die loves you. Keep us in your mind and we'lt hetp uptift the entire Chicago area.

- Rohit Loomba, poombster@yahoo.com OZONE A,TAGAZINE DEC/JAN

2OO5

'7

What do you think the public's general attitude is towards you, since you've kinda been out of the game for a minute?

Of course, they ain't heard from me in a minute just because of the situation that transpired in 2001, so there's a big point l'm trying to prove.

I'm tryjng to make it known that I ain't fatt off, and I even got better. I definitety have to come out strong cause a Lot of people feet Like they ain't heard from me so l'm gone, but that's not the case. lt's not that I haven't been active.

I've been writing and doing music, but att the doors were getting ctosed jn my face. After the situation in 2001, the face"sticing thing that went down at Jimmy's, it became a poLitics game. lAttantic Records] gave me my release the day after the Jimmy's incident. Then I had to endure the btackbatting: labels turning me down, DJs not wanting to my play my record because of threats that have been made to

them and stuff tike that. The ptan to stop Cuban from putting out his stuff worked for a minute, I was stitL doing shows here and there,

but most everybody was atready brainwashed.

[Fat Joe] was atready tetling peopte presidents of the companies not to fuck with me. I don't know what he was telLing them, but however he exptained it to them, it worked. l'd drop my CD off, they'd love what they heard and take it home and do some research. Five days later, l'd get the caLt. They'd tetl me, "Cuban, I tove your music, but we have a retationship with [Fat] Joe and we don't need problems right now." That's around the time when he went platjnom, so he had a tittte potiticat power.

There's been rumors that the reason your face got sliced was because you slept with Big Pun's wife.

No, never. That's my sister, Never happened.

That's just more dirt getting thrown out there to justify the fact that I got sticed. That's very disrespectfut. And to this day, the streets don't have a real reason why I got my face cut. lt was a business move, with some ego invoLved and some personal issues between me and the group. We was at war, and [Fat Joe] tet somebody from his side come and cut me and act like he ajn't know what happened. Ihat's a bitch move, The streets do not respect that. How can you justify that? Cuban's down right now, we gon' bury him. We gon'make sure he never gets a deat, make sure his music never gets heard, and then after that we gon' start a rumor about why we sliced him, Of course they're gonna say that [about me and Pun's wife Liza] cause niggas gonna tisten. Look, you're talking to a nigga who's been in this game over twetve years. I know how they get down. Ljza's my sistet I got nothing but Love for her and the kjds. Ihat's my second famjty. ls there anything positive that's come out of that situation?

You've got to took at things in a positive way, ln my situation, there's a lot of negatives, but it taught me tife tessons. I had to go through this to realty sit back and think about the vaLues and the friendships and the betrayat. lt hetped me find out who my true friends were, and my crew got tighter. I got tighter with my lyrics, cause now that's another chattenge that I've got to overcome. lt's never been that I was whack, but now the pressure js on to show what I've got. I'm gonna stand on my own right now and go back to my destiny. I just

gotta fottow my heart. Thank God l'm stitt here. l'm btessed to stitL be here.

'

'8

heard your album, and I didn't no-

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC,dAN 2OO5

to put nothing in the way to block it.

tice any diss tracks or anything aimed at Fat Joe or Terror Squad. After the blackballing situation, a lot of people might be surprised you didn't go at them lyrically.

supposed

What happened between me and him is a street thing, and I'd like to handte that in the street.

I did drop a mixtape catled Chainsaw lAossacre

Why do you think people are scared of Fat Joe? I know why. I mean, you gotta know the art of war. It's because he's thought of as a king. When

just to put a statement in the streets and let peopte know that l'm not messing with lTerror Squadl because I've got my own lhing going.

But when it comes to an album, I have to talk to the majority of the peopte, and I don't even wanna concentrate on that too much. I have to be abte to touch people without having to diss the next person or get in battte mode. lt's too serious for a battte.

How did you select the artists that are featured on your album? ln the beginning we ran into some probtems, because a tot of peopte were scared to fuck with me. They'd heard so much stuff they didn't reatly wanna get invotved. Once I met M.O.B. Records and they backed me up, there was some money there and then they fett a littLe more comfortabte deating with me. lt's understandable, cause it's just business. I was never the type to go ask somebody to do a track for me for free; that's never been my styte. I'm too proud for that. When my deat with M.O.B. started rotting, we reached out to artists tike Jadakiss, Mya, Syteena Johnson, and Game.

That's when the busjness structure was reatLy beginning to come together. Before that, I was

just freestytin'it, doing shows here and there. I hadn't found a home yet. When I found M.O.B., I positjoned mysetf with some business-minded individuats that were behind me '100%,

Why did you feel like the time was right to come back out? ls the blackballing over? wet[, there's some respectabLe men of business

that have already had tatks with [Fat Joe] and came to an agreement. lt's business, they let him know that Cuban is not atone no more, and the beef is hurting business. lt got settted as far as laying down some respectabte rutes. When we gonna do business with somebody, he not

for us to do more things and peopte won't be scared of hjm.

Now, there's more tiberty

you have money, peopte worship that So you've

money.

got some littte knuckteheads running

around behind you and you can give them orders to do certain things. When you beat up a little pussy nigga in front of a crowd of peopte, that's intimidation. The other pussy niggas are gonna get scared of you and gjve respect. And you're tatk" ing about a dude that has years jn the game. He's known as Fat Joe the gangsta, so when it comes to the industry a lot of people just want to handte their business. They don't want no probtems or beef. Some situatjons are serious, but some are made up just to make money. Controversy setls, you know. But my situation wasn't like that. My situation was real.

Aside from Fat Joe, what about the rest of the

Terror Squad?

Att I could do is just be myself and do what I fuckin' feet in my heart. At the end of the day, he's got a lot of peopte around him that don't know the situation and don't even know me. They're just ridin' with whatever comes out of his mouth. They might think they're a threat to me because they've been locked up or whatever, but l'm one of those niggas

that just don't give a fuck about that. I don't.

I

atready went through one situation where I atmost got kitted because I trusted the peopte that was around me, but it'tl never happen again. Whoever wants it, as a man, they could come get it. But me as a businessman, I think of positive things. I'm just trying to get my music out. I'm not dissing these dudes in my atbum. This is my career, this is what I do. lt's worth fighting for with every ounce of blood in my body. I love it so much, that's what I've gotta fight for. I know I ain't do nothing in the past that wouLd trigger a person who don't even know me to hate me. I never did a fout thing for them to hate me so much, so if they against me,

they fighting with no ammunition. <

.ontinued on followins pase

< Cubon Link

continued

How did you hook up with M.O.B, Records?

They're some good brothers out of Connecticut that decided to get into the music business.

I met them in the beginning of 2003 and we tatked, but they weren't ready yet. Ihe be" ginning of 2004, Artie heard what I was doing and we came toqethet He was ready and I was ready, so tet's rock. He put his money where his mouth was. He got some powerful hitters on my atbum without even a contractr and that's atl I needed. They betieve in a nigga.

YLII\G WLIN

Why did you decide to go with an independent label?

I coutdn't be happier right now, I'd rather not be with a maior. I atready went down that road deaLing with Attantic, and I didn't feet

that situation. The exposure with a maior labet is great, and you've got the machine behind you, but after that incident in 2001

my mind just went on some other shit. I feet more comfortabte taking my career in my own hands and starting something new to leave a Legacy behind. When you're going against atl odds and you can stitt move forward and make it happen, you bring that fresh biood into the game. You've got to stay hungry and prove your point. And we've got distribution, so this labet jsn't just independent. lt's self-contained and it's not the norm, but it's gonna be running like a major labet. The money behind us is major [abe[ money, so the Cuban link posters, the ads, everythr'ng is gonna be there. We've got two bittboards now. My album Chain Reactjon is coming out March 8th, so we're just doing earty promotions right now to tet the peopte know I'm coming. A chain reaction is a domino effect. l'm the first domino that has to qo down. Once I drop what I have to drop on this atbum, every other domino is gonna fall into ptace. Once I get my career back on track, l'm movjng onto the ctothing [ine, movies, acting, ghostwriting, R&B smashes, everything.

Do you think that Pun's passing had a dramatic effect on Terror Squad?

Definitety. I mean, I considered them family.

I wanted the ctique to be tighter. But me being Pun's roadie, like, his man, lwas the most vulnerabte. I took that initiative to try to keep the ctique getting stronger because I know Pun woutd have wanted jt Uke that. But everybody didn't see jt tike that. Everybody was doing their own thing. I seen that comjng, because niggas are onty thinking about themselves, At the end of the day, how many atbum has Joe dropped atready since 2001? I was the next one who was supposed to drop lafter Pun passed], How many atbums has Terror Squad dropped?

How many atbums has Remy dropped?

There was a Remy di5s track circulating that sounded like it wa5 about Fat Joe. But she's still with Terror Squad, It was about Joe. It was about Loud Records

too, but

it

was actuatly about Joe. Remy wanted to say that but she ain't wanna get in hot water. lt's nothing but Love with Remy. It's cool, I respect her a Lot. But they've gotta open their eyes though. lf they saw what happened to me, then nothing's gonna open they eyes. I just hope they're happy. I know their money situation isn't comfortable. Some of them are stitt tiving in the projects and they ain't getting the money to feed they kids. That onty teads to becoming a fuckin' bum tater in tife.

- Photo and interview by Julia Beverly, jb@ozonemag.com

ven though his name is Yung Wun, a

sit down with this Attanta rapper in

kearly

his

twenties might convince you that

Elder Wun wouLd be a more fitting titte. His bio reads tike a script from a mid-go's 'hood saga about a young teenager trying survive

cording to the cathartic intro "l Can't Take It No More," he's been in and out of recording booths for "8 years 5 months 6 days t hours," and is finaLty dropping a record. He's atso had to suffer through faulty record deats where peopte were stealing his songs.

tife with the fucked up hand he was deatt.

His experiences (growing up in Attanta's notorious Easttake Meadows, having his grandmother die jn hjs arms as a teenager, and a 36"month stint in jait) explain why he greets each song with blend of anger and aggression. HetL, judging from the blood-curdting energy that he conveys through his music Yung Wun shoutd be bouncing off of watls and hanging from chandeliers every time you see him.

SurprisingLy, from sitting with him for an extended amount of time you witt see that he is a reserved young adutt tiving tife one day at a time. Or in this particutar case, one song at a time. stightLy rectined in a peart white BMW parked outside of Attanta's ritzy Lenox Matt, Yung Wun is enjoying a Newport in a head-bobbing ctosed-eye trance, vibing to tracks.

You might assume that they're aLt cuts from his recent Futl Surface/J Records soto debut lhe Dirtiest Ihirstiest. But most of them are not. "This is some other shit," he says with a devitish grin hinting that thjs is music that he is saving for tater

But nowadays the onty thing Yung Wun has to worry about being taken from him is privacy, as he is becoming a recognizabLe face in the industry He has aLready shared the mic with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Scarface and fettow Ruff Ryder Jadakiss. Eartier this year he had the opportunity to "Tear lt up" with LiL' Ftip, David Banner, and DMX on his lead single. David Banner atso provided the track and came through with another guest appearance on Yung Wun's second singte, "Walk lt, "Tatk lt."

However, the high-profile cameos and backing from Swizz Beats have some naysayers insisting that he can't hotd his own. "Man, I ain't worrjed about that shit," he quips when asked how he feets about that notion.

By the time the CD reaches its tast song, Yung Wun has went through three'Ports and is firing up another with a look of artistic satisfaction on his face. When queried about the many emotions shown on his soto offering he laughs and whispers, "Dawg. I got tike, eight souts inside of me. You're tatking to Yung Wun right now, but tomorrow, ain't no tetling who you might be tatking to."

Yung Wun definitety has enough

not know who he is going to be tomorrow but at least he knows that he doesn't want to be who he was yesterday.

recorded material as welt as enough to write about. Ac-

'Maurice G. Garland (Photo: Julia Beverly)

Yung Wun might

OZONE

MGAZINE

DEC/JAN

2OO5

19

''

j

H

${

,

siLty shit over beautifuL music, run out and get a peek inside The Mind of Mannie Fresh. - Wally

T.t.

URBAN LEGEND ATLANTIC

Sparks, djwallysparks@yahoo.com

This album was supposed to be the one; the atbum that woutd shoot T.l, into

the

ffff

BIRMINGHA.II STILL A STAR

mainstream's con-

KOTTAGE BOY ENTER-

sciousness. The atbum that would have a song to touch everyone across the board: the dope boyz

in the trap, the hoes

J

TAINMENT

Other than Bun B, there are no major guest appearances or even pro" ducers featured on this

in

the shake, the radio PD's with no ear to the street,

atbum, but Birmingham

and the suits in corner offices in the major tabel skyscrapers. The teaked street single "U Don't Know Me" was atready settjng the streets on fire before the album dropped, and the officiat

tittLe hetp from fet-

sjngle

- the

Swizz Beatz powered "Bring Em

J hotds

a

it

down soto with

low Atabama artists tike Venus and Mr. Ha.

lf

you

haven't heard the tead singte "Me...lJmma Pimp" I suggest you run to

Out" - had the rest of the country with their your locat mom and pop and pick it up before "hands in the air now!" Then, the actuat atbum dropped. No ctassic album taLk. No enormous sates numbers. This was just another high-pow-

ered record dropping during a crowded winter

of The Dynasty from Jay-z, when Jigga tried to

retease schedule. Urbon Legend reminds me

touch each coast with his ptatinum touch. Songs tike "Cet Loose, " featuring Netty, and "Freak Though" featuring Pharretl sound like they don't betong in the same set as straight hood records

like "Motivation" and'ASAP" However, that's the reason this atbum wilt work. The songs that sound out of ptace are surefire hits. This atbum is Like aurat purgatory The songs that T.l.'s core fans witt probabty think are buttshit wilt most tikety be the bjggest hits off this atbum. At press time, this atbum has sotd 300k, but by the time spring hits, I'm witting to bet it might be around 3 mittion. I guess this is the one, huh? - Wally Sparks, djwallysparks@yahoo.com MANNIE FRESH

THE A,iIND OF

MANNIE

FRESH

CASH MONEY/UNIVERSAL

Let's get this

straight

right now: lr'\annje Fresh is not an MC. However,

he might be one of the

ffff

greatest rappers ever for the simpte fact that this foot can make you laugh out toud white listening to him. That's a long-tost and underap-

preciated art in hip-hop that hasn't been heard since Bizmarkie. One thing Mannie js great at, though. is making music. Not beals, but music.

This record is a sonic joyride. The crazy thjng i5 that the best beat on the whoLe atbum is one that Mannie Fresh didn't produce. David Banner comes through again stiLt ridin' those "Rubberband Man" chords on the joint "Go with Me," which atso features Mannie's Big Tymers cohort Baby a,k.a. The Birdman. I couLd go on and on about how dope the beats are, but this is Mannie Fresh, so it's expected. You've got to buy this atbum simpty because of the intertudes. I need to find out what voicemail service Mannie is using so I can fend off the pLethora of whack rappers who calt my phone trying to get on mixtapes. The intertudes are a fuckin' riot. Like, fuckin' De La SouL funny. The best are the ones where Li[ Wayne sneaks into the studio to spit some gangsta shit to break up Mannie Fresh's love fest. Start to finish, this atbum ]s straightup entertaining, lf you have a high toterance for

it in rotation

and kitts it. With the machismo of a Latin man and the drawt of your favorite southern rapper, Birmingham J turns Lil Ftip's memorable Line on "Like a Pimp" into his hook, "Me, l'mma pimp, I ain't payin'for no sex / I'd rather buy a car or a new Rotex."

His attitude can be summed up in three words, which are written in his tiner notes: "FUCK BEING LOVED!" On "Weed Smoke," Eirmingham J recites the thoughts of the average pot smoker. radio puts

White the hook on "Hustlas and Cap Petlas" isn't anything speciat, the verses are a prime example of Southern tyricism. On the flipside,

at best. The cotlaboration with Bun B is tight, "Sip & Lean," but just Like peanut butter without the jelty, Pjmp C is missed. Most of the production on the aLbum is handLed by Metlocapone, so it does start to get repetitive. Other producers add a littte flavor at times. Atthough J means wetl, the production on "Dreams" sounds more tike a game show in. tro than a taLe of struggte. Some of Birmingham J's Atabama crew Mr. Ha, Venus, and Lyrisis come through with support throughout the at" bum, but their combined effort "Magic City" is weak. The first hatf of the atbum is smooth and captivating, but near the end, the tracks tend to lose focus. OveratL, a sotid project with a few forgettabte cuts. - ADG, adg@tmail.com "BouLevard" is lukewarm

HAYSTAK

PORTRAIT OF

A

WHITE

BOY

This atbum is the first of a CD triLogy. lt starts off with amovie ctip about

and making for the cause,

sotidarity

moves an adequate intro for

Haystak

considering

the reception he's had by some entities in the game. Some have Labeted him a cutture thief simpty because of his skin cotor, Tracks tike "Dadgummit" make the atbum titte make sense; Haystak spits, "l made a tittte money, peopte think I'm made of money / Sometimes I wish God woutd

locked her Mercedes up / Like I'm gonna jump out my truck and try to stick that tady up, tady

fuck / lf I was ptotting a robbery please betieve ya otd btind ass woutdn't have spotted me." "Stak's Wortd" is an uptempo fitter track at best, which tacks his heartfett rhymes. Most of the production is handted by Sonny P, and the monotony hampers the atbum. Towards the end Stak reaffirms his thought process with "First White Boy, " stating that he was a white boy before a white boy was a white boy. l'm not sure if that song was intended tor the pubtic or for Stak. Since he's qiven us a comptete atbum virtuaLty soto you've got the respect the effort, but at the same time, Stak coutd benefit from better production and less experimentation with song ideas and content. This atbum won't change the face of hip-hop, but it's sotid. - ADG, adg@tmail.com BIG TUCK PURPLE HULK

Texas' Dirty South

Rydaz

present us with a CD and DVD combo: Big Tuck's Purpte Hutk. The DVD is some

material from DRS Live and promo for Street Heat.

The CD is eighteen tracks

a

deep, with appearances

by B.G., Chamitlionaire,

PLay-N-Skittz, Z-RO, 50/50,

and others. The atbum starts off reatly stow with an eight-minute extended version of "Southside Da Reatist." I know things tend to be a tittle more Laidback in lexas, but a song that {ong is a bit too taid back to kick off the atbum. The track itsetf is very etementary derived from the metody of Pac's "Ambjtionz Az a Ridah." That sampte has been used by numerous artists, and each time the result is the same: we take the CD out and go Lislen lo AII Eyez on Me! But, the album gets better with "Swing High, Swing Low, " and "U Need lt," where B"Gizzte and 50/50 Twin appear, 50/50 and Tuck both come hard, white B.G. spits his gangsta gunpLay tatk. At first tisten, "Tussle" is just a "Tear Da Ctub Up" rip-off, but after a coupte tistens it grows on you. "These Niggas Ain't ReaL," featuring Z.RO & Trae, js a ctassic case of Lame Hook Disease. Overatt, the best tracks on the album are the ones produced by Play-N-5kittz. lf you're into tastetess lyrics, check out "She's Peeping Me" and "lt's Our Tjme," both featuring C-Mo on the hook. Ihe standout track on the atbum are "U Niggaz Can't Do" and the dark "Wuz up, Wuz

Up," featuring Chamituonaire. Considering the stagnant start, the atbum is a good effort. - ADG, adg@tmail.com NERO

SOUTH STATE OF MIND Some of you might associ-

ate the word "Nero" with

the

poputar CD burning program, white others might think of the Roman

emperor who burnt down his empire white ptayinq the just take it from me / 5o lcoutd see who's fiddte. Those of you famitiarwith the South Ftorida around here because of the money." The first hip-hop scene witt think of Nero the rapper. This hatf of the atbum is hit or miss, but with the mixtape consists of 26 songs, some original tracks second hatf, the money is wett spent. "My and some poputar instrumentats. Most of the orjgiFirst Day" chronictes a drug addicts'sobering nal tracks are produced by Miami's D]az Brothers. journey through withdrawaL. On "Make Money," Nero has no probtem keeping up with the boy wonStak brings up a vatid point about peopte that der by jacking the track for LLoyd Banks' "5o Fty. " clutch their betongings and lock their car when Lr'stening to Nero is tike listening to a group of artthey feet uncomfortabte: "Bitch at the red tight ists because he can switch his flow and cadence.

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN

2(n5 2'

h

On some tracks, he sounds tike he's straight from Texas or Louisiana, but other tracks he sounds tike an East coast rapper Mix hjs varying styte with the flavor of the 105 and the sky's the timit.

u, .<i

Much tike Pitbult, his Latin descent is evident.

Nero spits in SpangLish tike it's second nature; he's very comfortabte rhyming in both tanguages.

lnever thought I woutd hear hip-hop

6@g |ll!#ffi!:

rreE @Ei ffiE dE: lq.p WEt W'EB *rurE

sampLe

Nirvana, but the highLy underrated Diaz Brothers pull this off with a sampte from Cobain's ctassic "Teen Spirit." Piccato, KaLiedoscope, Reek, and Vedo atso make appearances on the mjxtape.

Hopefulty we'tL here more from this dude. - ADG, adg@tmail.corn

ffiEi

DEFINITION VOL. 1

OF

HUNGRY

boy

wit' jt" in

of freestytes over a variety of beats. He gets crunk on the "Lean Back" remix, and detivers a hitarious rendition of Jaheim's "Put Your Woman First" with a cautionary tate, "Put That Rubber on First." Tom doesn't hesitate to rep Tampa throughout the atbum. On "Home of the Bucs," Tom rides the horn-fitled beat like a box chevy, spittjng, "AtL I need is some Henn and some Mar' Ley to fuck ya city up tike Hurricane Chartey."

There are, howevet a few tracks which fatt short: "72 Bars" and the Rick James trjbute simply fait to compare with some of his better materiat.

There are onty a few snippets and fuLl tracks from his upcoming atbum. White hjs second singte, "One Njght Stand," is catchy, the song seems to have a simiLar feel to "Cjty Boy." ln contrast, the next club banger _Get Loose" has a unique sound with wett'Lrtitized flutes. ln the end. Tom G proves that he's not tjmited to ctub bangers; he's a futt fledged MC and credibte songwriter. - ADG, adg@tmail.com a ton

I|CGISTEB ilOli' !! wanftn waxrE tltalElt _

{lsEllrs lalictts r t{tlIls

22

OZONE MAGAZINE DEC/JAN 2OO5

; P ir

EEI;

the

-)-

ctubs and trucks of Ftorida for a white now, so now it's time for Tom G to show and prove. Hosted by B.E.T.'s lnfamous Mad Linx, Tom G serves us up a 7o-minute mixtape fuLt of freestytes, snippets, and atbum exctusives. Cap' tivated by his street singte, the public has been anticjpating an aLbum from this Tampa native.

But first, he faces two gjgantjc tasks: one, to avoid joining the growjng tist of Florjda artists who turn out to be one'hit wonders; and two, to be respected as an accomplished artjst and not a pop fluke. Tom G sets out to prove his point with

or

l-1

We've been hearing "City boy wjt' jt, city boy wit'

it, city

!;

t

n9

TOM G

F

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o E

ii

phylists

of 2004 That We Never Want to Hear Again (according to Nietsen BDS, Songs

here are the songs that got played the most on corhmercial radio this year, and the total number of spins nationwide): 01 - Usher f/ Ludacris & Lit Jon "Yeah" 1227,O55t

02- J-Kwon "Tipsy" (1s2,8e2) 03- Petey Pabto "Freek-A-Leek" (r80,57E) 04- Juvenite f/ Soulja Stim "Stow Motion"

(177,785) Ushea "Burn" (173,0s1)

05 " 06 - Ciara

f/

Petey Pablo "Goodjes"

TJ's DJ's Record Pool (Tallahassee, FL) Top'10

Dec 04t

Jan 05

Jamlando Reco.d Pool (Orlando, FL) Top 10 01 - Ma.io "Let Me Love You (remix)" 02 - Ciara f/ Missy Elliot "1,2 Step"

-

''I Smoke, I orink

-

Ludacris "Get Back Ljl Jon & the ESB f/ Lil Scrdppy 'What LJ Gon Do" Destinys Child f/ T.l. & Lil Wayne "sotdier" Chingy "Balta Saby' 10 - Lit Jon f/ Usher & Ludacris Lovers & Friends"

Catt"

06 07 08 09

Alicia Keys "Karma" T.l. "Bring Em Out Trick Daddy f/ Twista & Lit Jon Lets co"

11 " Trittville '!ome Cut' 12 - Fabol,ous 'Breathe"

03 - Ashanti "Only You" 04 - Lit Jon & the East Side Soyz 05 06 07 08 09 10

f/ Lil Jon & Twista "Lefs Go 02 - Tl. f/ Jay-Z "Bring Em Out" 03 - Ciara f/ Jaze Pha & Missy EtLiot "1,2 Step 04 - Snoop Dogg f/ PharreLl "Drop it Like its Hot" 05 - lir. Magic f/ Roy Jones Jr & the YoungBloodz 0'l - Trick Daddy

f/

lce Cube "Rott

Terror Squad "Take Me Home" The Game f/ 50 Cent How we Do- Gueritta Btack f/ Mario Winans You're the One"

13 - Ja Rute f/ R Kelty "Wonderfut 1 4 - Tenor Squad 'Take Me Home" 15 - T.ick Daddy f/ Ge-Lo & Ludacris "Suga/

(171,930)

07 - Terror Squad "Lean Back" (171,926) 08 - Usher "Confessions" (153,06s) 09 - l ario Wnans f/ P Diddy "l Don't Wanna Know" (151,899i 10 - Aiicia Keys "lf lAin't Cot You" (146,6691

11 - Twjsta "Ove.night Celeb.ity" (139,976) 12 " Jay-Z "Dirt Off Your Shoulders" 1138,510)

13 - Chingy f/ Jason weaver "one Cat[ Away" l1J7,574t 14 4 - Lit Ftip f/ Lea "sunshine" (133,e75) 5 - Twista f/ Kanye West "Slow Jamz" (132,700)

Twins f/ Lit Jon & the East Side Boyz "Salt Shaker" (127,i85) 17 - Ludacris "Sptash waterfalls" (123,083) 18 ' l.jsher f/ Alicia Keys "My Boo"

f6 - Ying Yang

(116,194)

19 - Kanye West "Jesus Watks"

20 - Netty

f/

;i'1,#r,(sifr: I"'J.Ti":o 02 03 04 05 06

(110,?42)

Jaheim "My Pla.e" 0i0,211)

ffi

- The Diptomats "S.A.N-T.A. N.A." - 4Mutal "Gotta Roll' - Chingy Batta Baby - Crime Llob "Knuck if You Buak" - Lil Jon E the East Side Boyz f/ lce

Cube Rotl Calt"

07 - Mannie Fresh "Reat Big 08 - Mr. Magic f/ the YoungBtoodz & Roy Jones Jr. I Smoke, I DranK' 09 " Camron Eout lt" 10 - David Banner "Crank it Lip

DJ Smatlz (hosted by Slim Thug)

"Southem Smoke 15" www. DJSmallz,com

incLdes

t5t

KiUo Kyleon

fl

&n

B, lAike Jorcs,

&

PaulltkI '"fefus St@lp" f27 -Stot Qhf I Enircn & n Cent'\teqd tune lime" t31 - SIin nxJg fl Jczze Pfv'k lrwedible"

DJs, send your mix CDs (include a cover) to: 1516 E. Colonial Dr Suite 205 Orlando FL 32803

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