SUPA
MIAMI, FL
What’s your background in the music business? I started out with G-Mash and One Stop Records. We had the group Unda Presha. We produced our own music and wrote our own music. We were in the studio mixing down our songs and a couple A&Rs were checking out our music. They liked it, and we took it from there and kinda made it happen. That’s when everything started happening. That’s where I really got my initiation into the game. That was five years ago. Were you a producer or an artist at SlipN-Slide? I was more of an artist, but by me being real close to Trick, that drove me to make songs for him. I was always a producer since I was 9 years old, but I did a couple songs exactly for Trick. It wouldn’t be for nobody else but him, that’s who I was aiming at. I produced “All I Need” and “Money & Drugs” on the Thug Holiday album. I also did a record on the Drumline soundtrack, that was real hot. I also played in the movie. So what label are you with now? What happened to the Slip-N-Slide situation? I’m still with the same label One Stop Records, but as far as Slip-N-Slide goes, it ain’t no communication because they didn’t pay me for my songs and the work that I did. After that, the relationship got sour. The contract we had with them was a label deal – they signed One Stop Records because they loved what I do. That’s how I got close to them. If you listen to my songs and you think they’re fire, you’re gonna want me close to you as well, especially if we got a relationship. How were you able to get out of the contract? With the label deal, we were able to pull out after the album because we wasn’t prospering with them. We didn’t have too much promotion. We had to slip out. I was 15 when I signed with Slip-N-Slide, so that gave me a lot of leeway as far as the contract and parting ways. I’m 21 now. But it wasn’t a hard split. I’m cool with Trick and any other artist that was on Slip-N-Slide, but as far as the company, they owe me money. I ain’t cool with nobody that owes me money. How long ago did you leave Slip-N-
Slide? I been out of that situation for like four years now. Because I didn’t collect my funds that was pretty much it. But I was still fuckin’ with Trick. On the album Thug Matrimony, the song “If I Ain’t A Thug” was originally one of my songs. I produced it and wrote the chorus for it. Instead of paying me for it, they had somebody else remake it. Are you glad you went through that situation in retrospect? Do you feel like it was a learning experience and paying dues? I don’t see it as paying my dues. I just feel like I got jacked. I been paying dues ever since I got started, which was a long time ago. I paid plenty of dues even getting to that point. I got jacked and it’ll never happen again. I’ve got a stronger team now so we’ll never go back down that route. What are you working on now as far as your own project? Right now I’ve got the Bigga Rankin mixtape, and the DJ Irie mixtape is in the works. I’m also doing a straight street mixtape with Tony C. It’s not just local, but it’s real to the point where if you pop it in you’ll feel like I’m talking exactly to you. That’s gonna be real big – something for Dade County, putting together a whole new movement. Are you producing for any other artists besides Trick? I’m working on a Yung Joc single right now. I got songs for 50 Cent, Jermaine Dupri, and Lil Jon. I’m a producer, so when I make my songs I take a particular angle and make a song for whoever I got in mind and it sounds exactly right for them. Matter of fact, we just sent some tracks to Ciara for her next project. Hopefully she’ll consider some of Supa’s work. Now that you’re indie again, are you hesitant to hook up with another label because of your past experiences? We plan to drop an indie album to get a major deal. I don’t think I would do it differently if I could – like you said, it’s a lesson learned. All I can do is grow with it and get bigger and that’ll make ‘em even madder. I’m unstoppable right now. With each and every track I make, it’s that type of mentality Do you have a website? Yeah, www.myspace.com/supa305music. OZONE
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