YUKMOUTH EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW(ballerstatus.net11/16)

[sonofisis]

Yukmouth: Hustle & History
Thursday - November 16, 2006

— by Jeremy Simmonds


Back in 1993, a group by the name of The Luniz debuted on Dru Down's first album, Fools From the Streets. The duo went on to enjoy success with the underground hit, "Ice Cream Man," featuring a video with an ice cream truck -- equipped with gold Dayton rims -- cruising down their native Oakland streets. Soon after, The Luniz (Yukmouth and Numskull) were signed to Noo Trybe Records, a now defunct subsidiary of Virgin Records.

The Luniz released Operation Stackola, which topped the charts worldwide and attained platinum sales. After their sophomore effort, member Yukmouth decided it was time to go solo, releasing Thugged Out: The Abulition. From there, Yuk would go on to chase his solo aspiration, releasing two solo albums and countless compilations, mixtapes and DVDs.

Through his Smoke-A-Lot Records label, the rapper has called his own shots. Now, with a new project in the works, Yukmouth caught up with BallerStatus to discuss his Million Dollar Mouthpiece, a future Luniz album, industry politics, and the commercial popularity of rap music.

Additionally, the rapper gave some insight on police corruption, the spread of crack cocaine and the AIDS epidemic in his hometown of Oakland, California.

Ballerstatus.com: You keep yourself real busy with DVD's, features and albums. Tell me about new project on the horizon.

Yukmouth: Well, All Out War: Volume 3 came out a few months ago, it's a double mixtape with Tupac, Tha Realest, Bleu Davinci and the whole Regime -- me, Gonzoe, Dru Down, Pretty Black, Monstah Gunjah, Young Bossi, Silverback Guerrillaz, Domination [and] Bang Em Smurf. It's mostly features from within my clique.

My album, Million Dollar Mouthpiece, is coming out 1st quarter. It's gonna be one of my best sh--s to date 'cause I'm seeing how n----s is coming, how the industry is coming. It's gonna be on the next level. I've been doing my independent thing, keeping my name on the radar. Lil' Flip, Pimp C, Jim Jones, Mistah FAB, Sean Paul of the YoungBloodz, Keak Da Sneak, and the whole Regime will be on that.

I have "United Ghettos Of America 3" coming, the DVD, n----s know how that go. Then I have "United Ghettos Of America: Eye Candy." That's probably coming first. I'm gonna try that to have that coming before Christmas, to make it available as a nice stocking stuffer.

Ballerstatus.com: What will Million Dollar Mouthpiece be like compared to your other albums, in terms of similarities and differences?

Yukmouth: It's gonna be the whole total package, whether it's the Luniz style or another. A lot of people are like, "Oh, he not doing the grimy," or "Oh, he not doing the Luniz style." You're gonna hear a lot of stuff that you won't even sound like me. I'm gonna show them what I can do.

Ballerstatus.com: You have two albums and DVD's titled United Ghettos of Americas (Volumes 1 and 2). And your group, the Regime, has artists from all across the United States. Why is it important to you to bring unification and regional diversity through your work?

Yukmouth: The whole thing is this, I travel a lot, I have a lot of friends everywhere. That's basically how the Regime started. Basically the same with "United Ghettos of America," I just travel a lot. A lot of rappers don't take advantage of their situation. I just came back from Australia, did lots of filming there. I just take advantage of every trip. You get more fans, because you're putting a city on their map through representing their artists. It's just me giving back to the people. I wanna unify, I'm cool with that sh--. If we unify together, we can a lot of money. A bunch of people working to make money together, make a lot more than just one person working for it.

Ballerstatus.com: Being CEO of your own Smoke-A-Lot Records, what are the ups and downs of the position, and do you ever miss just being able to focus energy on being a recording artist?

Yukmouth: The whole ups and downs about that is being a CEO, and friends of the artists at the same time. At the end of the day, when you're friends, you let some sh-- slide. At the end of the day as a CEO, it's business. I've lost artists because people get too comfortable being my friend. It becomes kicking it, instead of studio time. The downfall is losing artists. They want to be your friend. Personal sh--, sometimes people can't be friends [because of] clashing egos or bi-polar. But, they rap hella good. It's hard to deal with bi-polar people. Some people I've had to let go 'cause of that. It's hard 'cause it's a waste of talent. That's the downfall, separating artists. I have to cut them off. If I was just an artist, I'd probably be their friend still.

The good part is full control of what is going down. A lot of A&R's have a vision of what is going down. When you own your own sh--, they can't tell you sh--, except give advice. You have the power to control everything. I definitely prefer making $8 an album over $0.80, it's a big difference. $10 each DVD, $5 off mixtapes.

Ballerstatus.com: Numskull told BallerStatus about his relationship with you. He said he thought a new Luniz album would be seen in the near future. Can you confirm that a new Luniz album will be released sometime soon?

[sonofisis]

Yukmouth: Yeah, matter of fact, I think we're gonna get back in the studio like this month. Look for the next one coming. I mean, fans been waiting longer for that one than they have for my album, so yeah, it'll be coming soon.

Ballerstatus.com: You have mentioned liquor companies such as Carlos Rossi and Hennessy in your songs. How do you feel about the comments that Frederic Rouzard, managing director for Louis Roederer Cristal had made in The Economist about the hip-hop community's devotion to his champagne?

Yukmouth: I think that's a flat-out racist, derogatory ass statement. If anything, the hip-hop community has done turned things up 1000 notches. Whatever we do or say, we boost the company. They wanna drink what we drink, the shoes, the clothes, the blunt wraps. That's a motherf---in' slap in the face. That's probably millions or billions of dollars they made off us. You didn't make all this money off wine tasters, the people that collect wine. Man, we buy 10, 20 bottles in the bar a night. At the end of the day, he's made a lot of money off that sh--. I think Jay-Z is right about banning him. It's the same thing with St. Ides with NWA, saying "We don't want that crowd." But, we made St. Ides, Hennessy, and Seagram's. Anything we mention, people buy that. That's why Seagram's made deals with rappers. They know hip-hop is a big market. Now everyone campaign with hip-hop, from McDonald's, tennis shoes, drinks, sodas. [Frederic Rouzard is] wrong, he damn near gonna go out of business for that.

Ballerstatus.com: Do you ever feel that rap is too generic and predictable? Do you believe that there is enough variety in rap that receives wide media coverage and financial backing from major record labels?

Yukmouth: Right now, it's f---ed up. If you ain't got no lollipop sh-- for the clubs, the big labels don't' wanna back you. That's why you hear all this club happy sh--. This is the sh-- the industry is putting the artists through. Even if people doing gangster sh--, like Jeezy or Rick Ross, they're making club beats. You can be gangster, but you have to be club. It ain't like pure hip-hop. It's f---ed up. All genres -- booty, positive, heritage, backpack, or gangster -- it was all getting some shine a while ago. It wasn't all a certain genre. Now, it's all lollipop ass beats. It's bad.

Ballerstatus.com: Too Short, Dru Down, and Tupac all have made songs about police brutality or harassment. Tupac sued the Oakland Police Department (OPD), and Too Short left Oakland because of the cops there, and moved to Atlanta. As for yourself, on the first Luniz album, you have a song about crooked police, and in your "United Ghettos Of America" DVD, you said in Cleveland you got detained for wearing arm bands and a sweat band. Could you tell me your thoughts on why police brutality continues in 2006, about fifteen years since Rodney King? Secondly, why do you think especially the OPD has gained a notorious reputation for mistreatment?

Yukmouth: Right now, police are acting like they're gang members. Like they're banging on your ass like a gang, like "Who are you motherf---er!" I hate to say it, but it's the black dudes. The white dudes don't care, they'll just take you in and book you. It's the black dudes. It's the vendettas that these police have. Pac used to get sh-- planted on him by them. It's more than brutality. They pull people over, plant sh-- on them. It's deeper than harassment. A lot of the Afro-American police, some of these guys were nerds. Most of them were nerds. They got punked on, getting pissed on when they were little, now they're police. Now, they think they're super tough. This is their chance to get their revenge back, and they're jealous of seeing entertainers and athletes that are rich and successful. A lot that sh-- that makes police f---ed. The Rampart division, like in L.A. ain't no police anymore, it's gang bangers in blue. Sh--, the president is a gangster. Sh--, we in a state, a country, where are sh-- is run by bad guys.

Ballerstatus.com: On the song "City of Dope," from your first solo album, you mention that Oakland was the first city to have crack cocaine for sale and was introduced to destroy the Black Panthers. Could you tell people out there the government's role in this -- when it first was introduced to the city, and how Oakland changed because of the drug?

Yukmouth: It's like this man; Huey Newton was kicking up hella dust. Beforehand, Malcom X and the Muslims were making a lot of noise, so they thought the Panthers were gonna be the next big thing. They flooded the Bay with crack, also flooded us with AIDS, through small pox vaccines. That was in '78, '79. So the early 80's, crack started getting big. The first street to sell it was Plymouth, that's why it's called Plymouth Rock. Then, it was more than just Plymouth, it was the whole city. That's why they named it "City of Dope" -- hella dope, hundreds and hundreds and thousands of pounds of dope. That's why you had all those ballers moving so much weight. They shut the Panthers down, Huey Newton was killed and was on crack. It ruined the Black Panthers, but also all North California as well, economically -- everyone's doped out, on welfare. The kids grew up f---ed up, doped up. When I was younger, I grew up with some sort of rules. The n----s that grow up now, they f---ed, they live by no rules. We call them crack babies, they mom was on dope when they were born. They will walk up and blast your ass. That's what happened, it got motherf---ers crazy, bi-polar. Just looking at them, they'll be like "What the f---?" It's like walking time bombs. It worked, it's not only black fiends, there's white dope fiends. It ain't just Oakland, it aint' just black...

Ballerstatus.com: Addiction doesn't discriminate?

Yukmouth: Yeah, it definitely doesn't.

Ballerstatus.com: Too Short with his song "Girl (It's Your Life)" was one of the first rappers to put the subject of cocaine on wax. Others like Spice-1, E-40 and Tnhe Luniz, for example, soon followed. Seeing as though you were among some of the first to rap about cocaine on record, is it overdone today? Do you feel like, even though cocaine still is a huge industry throughout the world, especially in American inner- cities, it is a little played out today in terms of subject matter in rap music?

Yukmouth: Right now, n----s taking a lot off. A lot of n----s trying to say they dope dealers. It's becoming a fad, however, I feel Ross, Jeezy and others that rap about trapping. A lot of n----s never rapped about dope, but this year, they wanna rap about dope, 'cause everyone... like the Clipse, but they wasn't on no trend. I like them. But, many don't know how it go. Like do you even know how many grams in an ounce? How many ounces in a kilo? You never seen hand to hand how it go. A lot of n----s following trends. Not everyone live this life people talk about. Hustling ain't never gonna play out. It's over saturated, but it won't play out. Real n----s recognize real, it ain't hard. The n----s know if others really went with it

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

props!   

[WC Iz Active]

propz!! Man I cant wait for Million Dollar Mouthpiece!!

[Tha G In Deee]

props!