Joell Ortiz: The Good Doctor's Next Big Thing - Interview

[Bones01]

Joell Ortiz: The Good Doctor's Next Big Thing
April 23rd, 2007 | Author: Quinton Hatfield

Joell Ortiz is not a stage name, but actually the real name of the Brooklyn MC. Considered by many as one of the next protégés courtesy of hip-hop west coast pioneer and legendary producer Dr. Dre, “The Brooklyn Representer” has been killing the streets heavy with heated cuts like “Hip-hop”, “125 Grams”, “That’s Just Me” and the most recent with Big Lou hitting the streets hard with “Latin Assassins”. The question Joell faces a lot though is the fact that’s he from New York and if he has the potential to bring the birth of hip-hop back to it’s ruling form. On some real talk, when faced this question most NY emcees usually deliver the “I’m just here to make music” line, but with Joell being signed with Dr. Dre there must be more on the line than just making music. Being on the grind with two record deals in hand (Koch and Aftermath) Joell is prepping for the release of his first solo project under Koch with The Brick: The Bodega Chronicles.

Joell Ortiz is very confident with his music and believes that he has what it takes to not only be a great Latin emcee, but just a great emcee overall. With that being said, Joell breaks down how he wants to be looked at as a rapper that just so happens to be Latin. Come to think about it, do we really do that with raw emcees like Fat Joe and Big Pun? Anyway, under the supervision of Dr. Dre, something has to be dope about Joell Ortiz (shit Dr. Dre’s is fucking with him). While Aftermath has a string of successful artist (Busta Rhymes, Raekwon, Eve, etc) Joell Ortiz is like the rookie basketball player being added to the roster that has to prove himself. The man has a story to tell about his life as he’s faced many challenges- from being raised in the projects to his mother’s drug addiction- so with the first album The Brick: The Bodega Chronicles, we will get a story unlike any before as Joell says “I’m here to stamp them again”.

HHDX: What’s making Joell Ortiz one of the hottest things in hip-hop right now?
JO: The actual word you just said, hip-hop, I’m bringing that feeling back baby. Nice with it, slick talk New York rapping MC n**** over hot beats. I’m bringing back that feeling and n****s is gonna be pressing the rewind button when they hear my album.

HHDX: So you giving us mad punchlines?
JO: I’m giving you punchlines, stories, I’m giving you an hip-hop album that we all been missing, it’s back baby.

HHDX: So what’s making you one of the hottest dudes out of New York right now then?
JO: The fact that I signed with the pioneer of the west coast might help. I’m on Aftermath as well as Koch with two record deals right now. I remember when motherfuckers told me I couldn’t get one, but that’s all good I’m not even mad at that. I did every underground venue you could imagine, I’ve been in XXL, Source’s “Unsigned Hype” and everything you have to do to become a rapper.

HHDX: My man been grinding heavy!
JO: Yes sir.

HHDX: How you feel about New York hip-hop right now when everybody say it’s dead?
JO: It ain’t dead were just trying to make the records we been making. It’s never been dead we just started following suit and we always been leaders. It’s been frustrating and that’s why I did the song “Hip-Hop” like calm down lets get back to the basics ripping beats again like we been doing. We don’t do all those other records that the south do. It’s not no knock on them, I’m proud of them. They got their ball rolling and they come from the bottom like I do so I ain’t never gonna hate on nobody. That’s just not what New York rappers are always about. New Yorkers, we are known to make head-knock music. We make that music with hard beats, slick talk, and wittiness so you be like “Damn you heard what the n**** said”. Hip-hop in New York ain’t dead it’s just that we stop making records that we used to stamp when we stamped them and I’m here to stamp them again.

HHDX: Do you feed into all that “Bringing it back” talk or you can care less?
JO: Man I’m just trying to rap [laughs]. Ya’ll can call it what ya’ll wanna call it, if ya’ll say I’m bringing it back that’s flattering, because I’m just a Puerto Rican kid in front of the corner store in Brooklyn that’s getting a shot. I don’t know what ya’ll wanna call it, but at the end of the day I’m just rapping over beats. I’m trying to do it to the best of my ability and I’m pretty sure Dr. Dre is gonna help me out with that one.

HHDX: How you feel about the category “Latin Rapper”?
JO: I’m here to abolish that, my thing is not to be the nicest Latin rapper. On the real every other rapper don’t wanna say it, but I’m here to be mentioned as the nicest rapper. That’s what I’m working towards, just like every rapper works towards though they don’t say it. They just go "I’m tryna do my thing." Nah... we all want to be the best rapper, so I’m trying to do my best to be mention in the same breath as the best rapper. I’m gonna try my best to be mentioned as the best rapper, not the best Black rapper, Latin rapper, White rapper, just the best rapper. When ya’ll mention Joell Ortiz don’t label me, because you can’t label my talent. My talent is hip-hop and it doesn’t have a color, gender, background, or ethnicity. It's just an art and I’m a paint everywhere I can paint with the best of them.

HHDX: How you feel when people put Fat Joe and Big Pun under that category?
JO: Pun, though he repped hard, will definitely go down as one of the best Latin rappers, it’s already in the books already. Even though Fat Joe was before him as Fat Joe was doing what he was doing Pun came in prideful. Pun spit in just about every other line in Spanish so he’s gonna go down like that. Joe speaks for itself, he was there damn near when it started so their gonna go down as Latin rappers. I wanna go down as a Latin rapper too, but not only for that. I’m wanna go down as a person that accomplished a bunch of things not only for being Latin rapper, but a rapper who happens to be Latin.

HHDX: Now your signed with Aftermath, how come the album is coming out on Koch?
JO: I have two albums coming out, I have two record deals right now. What happened was that I was in talks with Koch before Aftermath, but my management got a CD to Dr. Dre’s assistant out there in the west coast. He called back and was like “Yo Dre is really interested in flying you guys out A.S.A.P.”. He flew us out and I did dinner with the Aftermath staff and I meet him in the studio and he was like “Dude I really just flew you out to make sure you wasn’t a knucklehead getting involved in these rap beefs, you know I took a lot of losses on my grind.” I was like "You know what? I’m an honest dude and I’m just trying to do rap, I can rap really good and it would be an honor to work with someone like you.” With that being said, he said “Welcome to Aftermath”, don’t get it twisted I’m on Aftermath, but I was already talking to Koch with this album I got done already. He said we can do an independent venture before a major deal, I was like “I’m a man of my word and I made the commitment with producers and studio time so before I meet you that’s pretty much who I was in embedded with.” Dre said "just send me the album" and at six in the morning he called me the next day and was like “This is incredible, this is a great album!”, so that’s how it happened with getting two record deals.

HHDX: Being with Aftermath do you ever think your going get overshadowed by other artists on that label?
JO: Nah man, I’m not even concerned with other artists right now. I’m concerning myself with my Koch record that’s drops April 24th called The Brick and I’m concerning myself with my project. My work ethic speaks for itself and my records speaks for itself. At the end of the day you can have a basketball team with five stars in your line-up and the rookie can outplay somebody to get the starting job. That’s all I’m trying to do is go in there and bust ass. I’m going to go in that studio and be like “Yo this is how I go into the hole with it, this is how I cross over.” I’m not worrying about anybody else that got the starting job, I just know that we all are on the same team and whoever helps us win more deserves to get it.

HHDX: Being how Koch how you feel when people call it a “Graveyard”?
JO: I don’t know what it is for anyone else, I just know it’s been great for me. I can’t comment on what kind of situations it’s been for other artists that’s been on Koch, but for Joell Ortiz it’s been great. It’s been a learning experience, it let’s me know how labels run, how to move and do interviews and everything on a major level. I’m so glad that Koch did this with me, it’s been great, and I’ve been a student on what goes on at labels. They make me feel so at home. I walk in and out of that office I talk to everyone that works for me and with me. I’m happy with Koch and I wish them the best. They always wish me the best, and I can see myself somewhere down the line helping them along. They're great dudes to me. I don’t know about the “Graveyard” thing.

HHDX: You have to do what’s best for you homey.
JO: Exactly

HHDX: With you being on the grind what’s the toughest thing about the music business?
JO: The toughest thing about the music business outside of music is marketing to me, it’s so many things that they ask of you. Me, I’m a little bit on the chubbier side so right now I’m a little bit tougher to market. What’s selling right now is sex, sex and good looks is selling. I’m a little bit on the chubby side and that’s the only concern, so for me I’m in the gym. I want to feel good about what I got coming up in my life as a person, so I’m in they gym getting it in doing what I got to do now. I’m also really focused on my music, but yeah the hardest part of it is the marketing part. That’s when the other money comes in when you can sell a product for someone when you can just stand there and look good. When you can just take you shirt off at a show and girls try to tear at your shirt. I didn’t know I had to sign up for that. I thought I was just signing up to be a rapper. I realized that this business is a lot bigger than music and you can branch off and become successful in a lot of other areas. I’m ready for those challenges too as well as well as challenges that been put in front of me all through my life. I’m a slim down, get sexy, and get it in [laughs].

HHDX: [Laughs], my man is getting worked out for them ladies out there!
JO: I gotta do what I go to do [laughs].

HHDX: Why you chose to keep your name Joell Ortiz since the last time you told me your not a stage person?
JO: Exactly what I told you the last time, I’m not a made up guy. When people refer to Joell Ortiz it feels good when someone says “Yo Joell your music is good,” because they're not saying nothing else. I feel like it’s a one on one. I feel like my audience knows me and that’s what I put on my album. I only put things I’ve been through or seen. This is a kid that came from the bottom for real, but it ain’t the same generic story. I could’ve went away to college, playing ball, doing things like that. My moms had an addiction, I stayed home and helped her kick the addiction at the same time I found myself hustling the same thing she was strung on. Right now, when I visit her I see the smile on her sober face that she’s smiling at a legitimate son now, a legit earning son that got two record deals and you can’t beat that. I’m real... Joell Ortiz all the time, because that’s what you see grounded and I’m not a fake person.

HHDX: I respect you on that, because I’ve been in that same boat homey.
JO: That’s what it is man so you know.

HHDX: Tell me about this Bodega Chronicles I’m looking forward to it.
JO: It’s great man and I’m let my album talk for itself I’m not even gonna say what my albums gonna do. When you get a chance to listen I wanna see if you can comment badly about it, you feel me? I got joints with my dude Ras Kass, Immortal Technique, Big Daddy Kane, Styles P and Akon. Producers I got are Alchemist, Premier, Domingo, Frank Dukes, the list goes on man and it just feels real good. The record feels real good, every time I go to the studio I touch something. I’m a fan first and I let everyone know that I’m just a fan with a deal. I’m here to bring that excitement back that’s been missing for me that I know a lot of people been missing as well. That’s pressing the rewind button going “Yo did you hear what the n**** just said”, because it’s a great told story. I’m just trying to bring the feeling back that’s all.

HHDX: Joell I definitely look forward to the album, anything to say to the readers of www.hiphopdx.com?
JO: Joell Ortiz is a real person for real and the first thing I did when I got my deal was buy computers for my projects. For so many years I lived in 10 to 15 radius and thought that was cool, because I didn’t know their was a world outside the world I was living in. I got these little dudes computers. So instead of going in the back to smoke a L, drink some liquor, or have sex unprotected they can log on and see out there that’s it’s other things to get into. Joell Ortiz, April 24th, The Brick:Bodega Chronicles, I’m so for real www.myspace.com/joellortiz.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.762/title.joell-ortiz-the-good-doctors-next-big-thing/p.all

[Matty]

yeah this dude has some heat...kinda reminds me of keith murray

[Primo]

i like this dude. He kinda sounds a lil like fat joe.

[eNgIeS]

HHDX: Now your signed with Aftermath, how come the album is coming out on Koch?
JO: I have two albums coming out, I have two record deals right now. What happened was that I was in talks with Koch before Aftermath, but my management got a CD to Dr. Dre’s assistant out there in the west coast. He called back and was like “Yo Dre is really interested in flying you guys out A.S.A.P.”. He flew us out and I did dinner with the Aftermath staff and I meet him in the studio and he was like “Dude I really just flew you out to make sure you wasn’t a knucklehead getting involved in these rap beefs, you know I took a lot of losses on my grind.” I was like "You know what? I’m an honest dude and I’m just trying to do rap, I can rap really good and it would be an honor to work with someone like you.” With that being said, he said “Welcome to Aftermath”, don’t get it twisted I’m on Aftermath, but I was already talking to Koch with this album I got done already. He said we can do an independent venture before a major deal, I was like “I’m a man of my word and I made the commitment with producers and studio time so before I meet you that’s pretty much who I was in embedded with.” Dre said "just send me the album" and at six in the morning he called me the next day and was like “This is incredible, this is a great album!”, so that’s how it happened with getting two record deals.

Reference to Game & 50? I believe so. Good on Dre if he wants to stay away from rappers who get into beef's. I bet he dont want another Game/50 situation

[hey hey hey hey smoke weed everyday]

my friend told me he has a single prod. by dre on BET. any info on this??

[Lord Funk]

I heard this guy for the first time yesterday - that 'Hip-Hop' track is great! Love the beat and the dude can spit. I can see why Dre was interested, but I'm not sure what his mainstream potential is. Either way, I'm picking up this Koch release after hearing that track.

[macknlatin36]

Boricua baby!!!

thanx for the read, def gonna check out his shit