Derrick “Marquis” JOHNSON, 27 Webbie’s older brother (“We have the same mother, and
Charles “Chuck” Young, Jr., 35 Trick Daddy’s older brother Manager/CEO of Dunk Ryder Records Is this your full-time job or do you run the label on the side? Well, I also manage Trick and I’m the CEO of Dunk Ryder Records. What was your job before this or what would you be doing if you weren’t managing Trick and Dunk Ryder Records? I also own a private investigating and security company. I still do that. I’ve done that for years now. I just started managing Trick four and a half years ago but I was successful with what I was doing before that. At what point in your life did you realize your brother was going to be a star? When he started sending me his raps from jail, I noticed that the things he was saying and his ideas were hot. I used to rap back in the day. I was the only one in the family that was a rapper. I owned my own studio. I was very popular in my neighborhood. I was known as that dude. Trick was never a rapper but I guess I inspired him to do it. He became really good at what he was doing. When I heard him deliver a record for the first time, that’s when I knew he was going to be a star.
I’ve lived with [Webbie’s] dad since I was 3 years old”)
Manager
What are some of your job responsibilities as Webbie’s manager? I don’t really look at myself as a manager. That’s my brother, so I’m gonna do whatever needs to be done. If we need a DJ, I’ma do that. If we need a manager, I’ma do that. If we need a security guard, I’ma do that. We started a label called Savage Life Records, which is a branch of Trill Entertainment. We also have a promotional company down here in Baton Rouge called Savage Promotions; we throw parties and do shows. Savage Squad is the group signed to our label and they dropped their first mixtape on the fourth of July. Savage Squad is Webbie’s group; it’s him, Slugga, and Fresh. So I handle a lot of things on the business side. I’m also doing a little modeling right now and trying to see how that’s gonna go; any way I can get money. At what point did you realize your brother was gonna be a star? Boosie was on before Webbie, and one day Webbie came to me in the room like, “Hey, man, listen to this,” and he started rappin’. I was like, “Damn, you just as hot as Boosie.” That was always his dream, to fuck with Boosie. And his dream happened, you know? From them on I knew he had the talent. I never doubted him. Do you ever feel overshadowed by having a famous brother? Yeah, sometimes, but I’m not trippin’ cause that’s my brother. Whatever I’ve got he’s gonna have, and vice versa. I’m here for him. He’s got talent out his ass, so I’m just here to pick up the fumbles and handle the business.
Do you have any entertaining childhood memories that people would be surprised to hear about Trick Daddy? He was always the bad kid, always into trouble. I’ve always been the mature one. Trick moved in with us in Junior High. He got kicked out school, that’s why he moved down with us. Something we did that we could have made millions off of, something we didn’t realize could have been big, was that we were YouTube before YouTube was big. We used to always film ourselves lip synching. We would do other niggas’ records like N.W.A., Too $hort and Cube. We would have on all black and film ourselves. It was crazy. I still have some of the videos. Maybe one of these days I’ll let muthafuckers see it and laugh at us.
Does having a famous brother benefit you with the ladies? I ain’t gonna lie, I’ll keep it real. It does. But I had women before [Webbie got famous]. And I still get more women that he does. Jay-Z’s girl could get knocked off right now. Will Smith, he’d have problems. Anybody in the business would have problems with me if their girl sat down and talked to me. All the women like me.
Do you have an interesting tour story? We did a Midwest tour. Trick’s an artist that hasn’t traveled much and just to see how much he’s accomplished was interesting. When I was managing his Midwest tour, I was surprised to see how many white people really loved his music for him to be so gutter and street. As CEO of Dunk Ryder Records, where do you guys hope to see the label years from now? The music industry is changing and is continuing to change right now. It’s going to be hard, to be realistic, if we’re still trying to do the same street music, the same ol’ shoot ‘em up-bang bang music. We plan on trying to keep it real but maybe bringing it to you from a different angle. I think that we can make it happen but I don’t know if we’re trying to go major. We don’t need the fame. We already have an artist that understands fame. We’re out here trying to build a foundation and a future for our artists and their families. //
What was Webbie like when y’all were growing up? Webbie always was a hardhead. I hear a lot of rappers talkin’ about beef and all that bullshit, but he basically was a hardhead his whole damn life. He stayed suspended out of school. He’d always get into trouble and he was like, “Damn, man, they caught me this time,” and dropped out in the 9th grade. He was always beatin’ somebody’s ass at school. Back when he was in school, I was hardheaded too. I was in the streets, but now I know that’s not where I want to go. I guess when he gets to be around my age he’ll start seeing that too, but me being his brother, I’ma try to push it on him before then so the money can be laid out for him [once he’s my age]. It’s going pretty good now and what he’s done is a big accomplishment because he’s only been in the game for a couple years, and he’s so young. Nobody’s there to guide [Boosie and Webbie]. They’re just hitting the road hard; they got shows every day of the week. If an artist was there to guide them and mold them it’d be crazy right now. They’d be like the Jay-Z and the 50 Cent of the South. //
Words: Ms Rivercity // Photo: Julia Beverly
Words: Julia Beverly // Photo: King Yella
56 // OZONE MAG
Who would win in a fight? C’mon now. Me! What do you think? I’m the big brother. We argue sometimes, but we know what it is. Whatever’s mine is his, and whatever’s his is mine. But if we go out and shoot ball, he knows who’ll win.