Author Topic: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)  (Read 16540 times)

OG Hack Wilson

Re: Finally heard Black Mafia Life
« Reply #180 on: July 29, 2008, 07:04:26 PM »
dre > atl


what´s the point of that?
can´t both be dope?


sure

but you know what? this happens ALL the time

example:

Big L would have blown up with "MVP" but Biggie took the beat for a remix (the name of the song slips me because im baked)


Necro will never give out the name of the song he used to sample the classic Non Phixion song "Black Helicoptors" because he doesn't want anyone else sampling it.


everyone and their mama has sampled Whodini's "Friends", does it make them all biters of Whodini?  no not really.  just payin tribute to some dope-ass songs to sample.


in the end Dre and co. were the ones who revolutionized it


the tone of your post makes it sound like you prefer ATL over the CHronic
Quote from: Now_I_Know on September 10, 2001, 04:19:36 PM
This guy aint no crip, and I'm 100% sure on that because he doesn't type like a crip, I know crips, and that fool is not a crip.


"I went from being homeless strung out on Dust to an 8 bedroom estate signed 2 1 of my fav rappers... Pump it up jokes can't hurt me."-- Mr. Joey Buddens
 

Chad Vader

  • Guest
Re: Finally heard Black Mafia Life
« Reply #181 on: July 29, 2008, 07:42:23 PM »
Dre > atl


what's the point of that?
can't both be dope?


sure
but you know what? this happens ALL the time
example:
Big L would have blown up with "MVP" but Biggie took the beat for a remix (the name of the song slips me because I'm baked)
Necro will never give out the name of the song he used to sample the classic
Non Phixion song "Black Helicopters" because he doesn't want anyone else sampling it.
everyone and their mama has sampled Whodini's "Friends",
does it make them all biters of Whodini?  no not really.  just payin tribute to some dope-ass songs to sample.
in the end Dre and co. were the ones who revolutionized it
the tone of your post makes it sound like you prefer ATL over the Chronic


did it?
I said both..... didn't I?  ;)
 

Dre-Day

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Re: Finally heard Black Mafia Life
« Reply #182 on: July 30, 2008, 12:24:05 AM »
dre > atl


what´s the point of that?
can´t both be dope?


sure

but you know what? this happens ALL the time

example:

Big L would have blown up with "MVP" but Biggie took the beat for a remix (the name of the song slips me because im baked)


Necro will never give out the name of the song he used to sample the classic Non Phixion song "Black Helicoptors" because he doesn't want anyone else sampling it.


everyone and their mama has sampled Whodini's "Friends", does it make them all biters of Whodini?  no not really.  just payin tribute to some dope-ass songs to sample.


in the end Dre and co. were the ones who revolutionized it


the tone of your post makes it sound like you prefer ATL over the CHronic

i didn't get that impression at all  :-\

then again, i was involved in the conversations of this topic  :P

Chad Vader

  • Guest
Re: Finally heard Black Mafia Life
« Reply #183 on: August 05, 2008, 03:19:19 AM »
Roger Troutman II Second Coming

24 used & new available from $0.88
http://www.amazon.com/Second-Coming-Roger-Troutman-II/dp/B00004Y6RB/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1213080872&sr=8-1
The track featuring Cold 187um    (Jewel is also featured on this album)
Dance Floor (featuring Cold 187um aka Big Hutch from Above the Law).MP3
http://www.mediafire.com/?9dyg9m95llz

Cold187um
Fresh Out The Pen (The Album)
West World Records


Credits;
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=185452.msg1894330#msg1894330

This title will be released on August 5, 2008.
http://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Out-Pen-Cold-187um/dp/B001BJ662A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1214737877&sr=8-1

Cold187um.com Officially up!
http://www.cold187um.com


Above_The_Law_Presents_Cold_187um-Fresh_Out_The_Pen-2008
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=189317.0
The Official (EAZY-ECPT.COM) Cold187um "Fresh Out The Pen" CD REVIEW
http://www.dubcnn.com/connect/index.php?topic=189396.0
« Last Edit: August 05, 2008, 03:24:25 AM by Chad Vader »
 

Dre-Day

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Re: The official Above The Law thread *interviews,reviews,audio etc.
« Reply #184 on: August 05, 2008, 04:22:33 AM »
Somebody Change The Thread-Title It Should Be Called: Official Above The Law Thread.

Agree  ;)
Tanji  ;)
The official Above The Law thread *interviews,reviews,audio etc.*


^^^^^^^

yeah man wake up Tanji

Chad Vader

  • Guest
Re: Finally heard Black Mafia Life
« Reply #185 on: August 05, 2008, 11:58:19 PM »
Big Hutch interview @ HHDX
http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/features/id.1188/title./p.all

Dividing his credits as both Big Hutch and Cold187um, Gregory Hutchinson, Jr. knows music.
He was the son of a Motown songwriter and nephew to Willie Hutch, who penned the UGK-reconsidered "I Choose You."
Since 1990, when Hutch, the producer and frontman for Above The Law learned the boards beside Dr. Dre,
he would go on to help pioneer G-Funk, and uphold Ruthless Records for the early and mid '90s,
before helming Death Row after Daz Dillinger left the label in 1999.

Just as Hip Hop has always been more than kicks and snares to Hutch,
his words, whether sociopolitical or hustler's anthems were dripping in non-fiction.
This poet tells it as only he knows it. After returning from a felony drug trafficking conviction,
Hutch, in his upper-thirties, admits that he's still evolving as a musician as well as a man.
And in a rap culture obsessed with street credibility and testifying on records, Cold187um says that his rap sheet garners attention for his raps.

Fans can get the wisdom of a rapper returning from prison, as so many in today's headlines seem to either be going, or avoiding it at last minute.
Big Hutch's Fresh Out The Pen isn't a gangsta pounding himself on the chest,
but a direct-speaking man who admits he loves making music today just as much as he did when the records were going gold.
This living, working, and jewel-dropping icon offers speaks about Above The Law's place in the game,
being the first to bring Tupac Shakur to Los Angeles, and how he feels about Crooked I's development to the mainstream.

Royal Crown, Hazmatic.

HipHopDX: “Fresh Out” is more musical than many people are used to in 2008 Hip Hop songs.
First off, for you as a musician, tell me about the kind of experimentation that a track like that allows you…
Big Hutch: It’s influenced by Blues. Me being a producer and an artist at the same time, as well as coming up in the Hip Hop era and being a musician,
I’m influenced by more than just a boom, a bap and a rap. I think the drums apply in Hip Hop;
I think you do need those elements in there, but I don’t think you have to limit yourself.
It’s all music at the end of the day. A lot of the Hip Hop I’m influenced by is early, mid and late ‘80s
– ‘cause I started making records in ’90, so for me, I’m influenced by that diversity in Hip Hop.
Music now in Hip Hop is very formulated, almost like Pop music.
When I was coming up, you had cats rappin’ to Jazz, to Funk, to Rock & Roll, and cats rappin’ to straight foot-snares and hi-hats.
That’s why I tend to think outside of the box, because of the era I came up in.

DX: 2Pac came out of jail and recorded All Eyez On Me in two weeks.
Given your own circumstances with incarceration, the lyrics and delivery on this song doesn’t sound angry, but it does sound pent up.
So much to say, and just three minutes to say it…
Big Hutch: Exactly. That song is not written; that’s just me off the dome.

DX: Really?
Big Hutch: Really. Yeah. When I cut the beat to “Fresh Out,” I actually did the lyrics.
A lot of it is me on the spot, just bustin’ what’s in my heart.
I didn’t write anything down. There’s no hook, it’s just rhymes.
It took three minutes just to say where I came from, where I’m at, and where I’m trying to go. [Laughs]
Sometimes you’ll have cats who are incarcerated, they’ll get out, and there’s a lot of [songs] that are premeditated.
If you listen to “Fresh Out,” it’s me, just raw in the studio, just flowin’.
I don’t write a lot. It’s written in my head, ya dig? I’m from the era where you write records.
I studied under Dr. Dre and N.W.A., accustomed to writing records, but I don’t typically write anything; it’s all off of memory.

DX: As somebody making music for 18 years, when you went in,
was it wild for you to connect with Above The Law fans that were still on that music from the early ‘90s, babies who went in and grew up behind bars…
Big Hutch: When all you have is get up, get counted, go eat, go sit down, that’s kinda the life you start living.
Other than that, you’re accustomed to the life you were livin’ the day you went into the penitentiary.
How you look at life 15 years ago is primarily how you look at life when you come.
I wouldn’t say they’re stuck, ‘cause there’s a lot of brilliant guys in there, but in it, their ways are still how it used to be.
To me, their mindset was still on keeping it real, ‘cause if you look back 15 years ago, there was a lot of real shit going on. [Laughs]

DX: You are a pioneer of G-Funk. Even flowing into the Blues-inspiration you mentioned, do you think that G-Funk is relevant in Hip Hop in 2008?
Big Hutch. I think it is because Hip Hop has to have more diversity. For instance, a lot of stuff is 808-based and kicks, snares and hi-hats now.
It ain’t music no more. Yeah, I think it’s relevant because I think it’s something that broadened Hip Hop.
A lot of those basic synth lines you hear today are G-Funk instruments basically. [Hums Usher’s “Yeah”]
That synth that Lil Jon used is kinda like G-Funk, it’s just not a G-Funk melody.
It’s not like [Hums Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphuckkin’ G’s”].
It’s not a sweeping keyboard line, it’s more like breaks and hits.
When you look at sonically, yeah! I got a record “Preach,”
 it’s a real funky record, it’s that authentic, funky, livey, real melodic, goonie-sounding, roots, G'ish, funky…
I trip off of it because people tell me it’s what’s missing in the game. They don’t say, “Aw, that’s that old shit!” Nah, it’s like a breath of fresh air.

DX: My favorite record in your whole catalog is “Black Superman” .
I adore that record. Years later, 15 of them, do you believe that Barack Obama has the potential to be a Black Superman?
Big Hutch: Oh yes! You know what my fear in that is?
People get against me in this, but my fear is us supporting what he has to do when he becomes that. It’s time for a spirit like him to be in power.
I just hope we can support the bullshit that he has to fix, ‘cause it’s not gonna be an overnight thing.
I just hope we have enough patience. I think he can do it.

DX: When you wrote that record, the message is multi-faceted.
On one hand, the guy is curb serving and the king, the superman of his neighborhood. On another, he’s a block baby, and there’s so much more.
What was the message you were trying to convey not only to folks in the hood, but white kids like me watching it on MTV back then?
Big Hutch: I think what people got from “Black Superman” is sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
Sometimes it’s not all about the shine.
KMG’s verse is, he’s a madman who really doesn’t give a shit, but he’s pushed to that point to where he’s got to do what he’s got to do.
My verse is more like, I’m pushed into a situation to where it’s so hard for me
– my moms is hurtin’, I’m hurtin’, so I’m just gonna push it like this, but I’m trying to save who I can save in my world.
I think what it bred through it was sometimes you’ve got to go through the darkness in order to shine, just to have a little bit.
You’ve got to do wrong to have right.

In the times we was livin’ in when we wrote Uncle Sam’s Curse, that was the whole premise of that album.
As young, black teenagers and early twenty-somethings, the way we was lookin’ at the game was,
“Hey, it’s rough out here, man. It ain’t no joke.” So we decided to make a record that was gangsta and politics.
We were understanding to where a lot of peoples’ mindset was in this country at that time.
That’s why that worked for us. We were so on top of everything that was going on in the country.
Back then, either the groups were gangsta-gangsta’d out or they were political; there was nobody who bridged the gap.
When we did Uncle Sam’s Curse, we bridged the gap with that.
It allowed people to listen to some gangsta shit, but have some thought to it.

DX: Were you embraced by that conscious, political community that championed Public Enemy, X-Clan and Poor Righteous Teachers?
Big Hutch: Oh yeah! For sho’. We had did a record about us hustling on the streets, which was Livin' Like Hustlers; Black Mafia Life was our family record. We’ve done all those records that said we were tough, grindin’ it out, hustled,
pushed packs up to weight and up to drinkin’ nice liquor, havin’ nice cars and being around women and still bein’ grimy,
we had done that, so we wanted to bridge every step that we’d taken in our careers,
and put a record out to the marketplace that brought both of those worlds together.
We are big N.W.A. fans and we are big Public Enemy fans, and we’d never seen it done.

DX: You mentioned Black Mafia Life. So many people ask you about Eazy. My question to you is about Tupac.
At that time, Tupac was entrenched in Northern California. Above The Law chose him as a guest on that album, ushering him into Los Angeles.
Go back with me and tell me why that went down…
Big Hutch: Yeah! The first record he cut outside of Digital Underground was “Call It What U Want”
One thing about it was ‘Pac was always around us, even when he was comin’ up. We had the road manager at the time.
We used to always have ciphers. Dude was just so off the hook, and we were like,
“Man, we gotta get him on this record.” It wasn’t no doubt. [Digital Underground] did “Same Song”, and we [knew it].
He did “Trapped” [click to read] and all that shit too. He was just so vicious.

It’s funny, at the time, like you said, nobody was checkin’ for ‘Pac in L.A. like that, not for real, for real.
We put him on “Call It What U Want” just based on his skills. We always hung out and did shit together too.
‘Pac was our partner, he was in with us like that. As we were comin’ up, he was just around us like he was around Digital.

DX: As a producer, you brought a true talent into the game in Kokane.
As a producer, did it or does it frustrate you to see him go find successes with
Dr. Dre, with Snoop, with G-Unit and you not really get the credit as somebody who helped polish that diamond?
Big Hutch: Yeah. It’s like this: one thing you’re gonna learn about me is, I’ma be real with you. I tell the truth, man, and hopefully it’ll set you free.
My point is this: when people take something that I brought to the game – and I brought the Kokane theory to the game, he delivered it as the artist
– but it gets kinda disturbing to me in the fact that no one pays homage to me.
He do a record with Snoop. The fact is, that sound’s been here [when it’s considered groundbreaking].
Give me my props. That’s the only thing I have a problem with.
Everybody likes to look like they’re the king of the hill, but don’t nobody want to say who helped them get to the top of the hill.
There’s a lot of people in Hip Hop who don’t know the question you just asked me
– they don’t know where the hell Kokane came from. Because guess what? Ain’t nobody ever said it. That’s what’s bad.
I ain’t got no problems with anybody using him, this or that, but when you start
addressing those kind of questions, just don’t act like you’ve all of a sudden got it at the truck stop on the bathroom wall.

DX: You produced tracks for Kam, Mac Mall, posthumous 2Pac production.
Do you want to be the type of producer that does joints for upcoming or established acts?
Big Hutch: Right now, I’m working a lot of independent stuff right now, ‘cause that’s the climate.
Other camps, to me, do what they do. They don’t look to broaden their horizons.
My focus is my label, my group – West World and Above The Law. That’s my priorities. I’d love to work with a Mary J Blige.
I make music that’s a little bit broader than Hip Hop at times. I’d like to do what Timbaland does.

DX: From the west, its only Above The Law and Boo-Ya T.R.I.B.E. that’s still together from the ‘80s throughout.
You mentioned messages. What’s the message now, as OG’s?
Big Hutch: Fresh Out The Pen is me. Just me.
It’s where I see life, where I’m tryin’ to get to, and what type of man I’d like to evolve to continue to be versus what I was.
With the new Above The Law record, which is gonna be raw, cutthroat, global-musically-influenced,
we’re gonna try to do things on a wider span of music.
Lyrically, from a G’s perspective is you have to talk as a person who’s been through something that’s continuing to be a part of the struggle.
Our group is Hip Hop, about fightin’ the man, comin’ up, stayin’ up. It’s about, if you win, celebrate, but not everyday’s a celebration.

With me being incarcerated, K-Os being incarcerated, we’ve got a lot to tell people.
You want to stay family, stay faith, stay focused, you want to be a stand-up guy at the end, or in the midst of it all.
For us, we want to continue to do it. We don’t believe in retirement, we don’t believe in none of that.
This is a business for us. We got a whole lot to say. To me, there’s no balance in the game.
People say, “Oh, what are dudes gonna say when they’re this old?”
We are the people you need to be listening to, ‘cause Hip Hop needs guidance!
When I was 19 years old, I didn’t have other rappers to listen to, ‘cause guess what? They was all my age.
You should feel fortunate. One thing I can tell you, which every other rapper can’t…
 the rapper sitting up there talkin’ ‘bout how much weight he pushed, he did this,
he did that, nine times out of 10, he don’t have a federal number on his back, he ain’t on parole – I am.

When I talk about being a street hustler, I really was a street hustler.
I ain’t lookin’ at Bobo down the street and lyin’ about his life through me. [Laughs]
That’s too much like CB4 to me, no disrespect to anybody who does it.
My whole thing is… if you gonna listen to them jibber jabber, you might as well listen to the Gs tell you how to get somewhere.
This “as we go along” shit, you can only go with them so long.
You should buy veteran rap music, so you can see where to get to. There’s no guide, no map.

DX: To be real, these days a lot of rappers are going into the penitentiary, but not many are coming out.
Big Hutch: Exactly. Mmm hmm.

DX: As a nephew of Willie Hutch, through DJ Paul and Juicy J
(“Stay Fly”/ “International Players Anthem” and 9th Wonder (“Dreamchasers”),
he’s become one of the most sampled artists in Hip Hop as of late. How’s that with you?
Big Hutch: It’s a beautiful thing. My dad, he was a writer, and he co-wrote a lot of the stuff, and wrote at Motown as well.
For me, it’s an honor. Thank you. I’m glad that people realize that he was great, and he had a lot of stuff that was real.
For a period of time, my uncle was really reigning in the ‘70s, a real player,
it’s just that people don’t know it ‘cause people don’t know about the times of music.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people who do records now look over a lot of heavy cats from that era. And he’s one of the hitters.

DX: It’s a shame that he’s no longer here. What was his reaction to you upholding the family business?
Big Hutch: He loved it. It was great.
My uncle and my father always taught me to express myself how I express myself – not to worry about what people were doing around me.
They liked the fact that I was different, that I was integrating music and melody into what I was doing.

DX: As a mentor for Crooked I, you’ve had time away from each other,
but what do you think of this student of your school and how he’s gone on to underground stardom?
Big Hutch: Man! I really hope that he makes a record, man.
I’m tired of seeing the mixtapes; I’m tired of hearing about it, I need to see this dude really, really get out there and let ‘em know he is the truth, ya dig? That’s what I’m bangin’ for. If there was one young guy that’s deserving of it, it’d be him.
When I worked with him at Death Row, his work ethic is vicious. His focus is real for-real.
That’s the only thing I wish. When cats do mixtapes, it’s great for advertisement, but it doesn’t do nothing for a real career. He deserves the shot.
I don’t cosign for nobody, but that was one of my franchise players.

prop pootypooty  ;)
« Last Edit: August 06, 2008, 12:23:21 AM by Chad Vader »
 

Chad Vader

  • Guest
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #186 on: August 08, 2008, 04:29:21 AM »
Here's My Review
Cold187um - "Fresh Out The Pen Review"

1)INTRO
- Loved The Intro sounds like a movie just started...Cold187um Spitting Fire!!! -  10/10

2)So Real
- This song is tyte, laid back, love the background on this song...real mellow track! 10/10

3)Take Over
- This was cool, he sounds real pissed off, background song is tyte...westcoast - 10/10

4)Preach
- This has a dope beat...cold187um spitting fire...love the chorus...preach on, preach on lol 10/10

5)Turmoil in the Ghetto
- I wasn't feeling this track @ first...but then i started listening to it 3 or 4 times and it was actually good...
beat sounds like a song from a movie ...but ya i give this song - 6.5/10

6)Dope Fean
- This was a okay skit nothing special 3/10

7)Get Your Weight Up
- I Love The Dark Beat, The Chorus is okay "Get Yo Weight Up" The Lyrics are Sick as Fuck, i give this track - 10/10

8)Bizniz Never Personal
- The Beginning Was dope as fuck...girl moaning n shit hahahhahhahahaha this song is tyte, spitting some motherfucking fire...love the chorus - 10/10

9)Convict Love
- Not Feeling This LoL 2/10

10)FRESH OUT
- THIS TRACK IS TYTE, LAID BACK, DOPE BEAT, SICK LYRICS LOVE THIS SONG - 10/10

11)GANGSTAZ IN STILETTOS
- HAHAHAHA THE BEGINNING WAS TYTE WITH THE CHICK...THIS 1 IS OKAY TRACK...THIS TRACK HAS ALOT OF BASS...I GIVE THIS TRACK - 5/10

12)BITCH
- I Didn't like the Intro but the song it self is okay...dint like the beat...but cold187um spitting some fire...fuck a bitch hungry ass bitch 
(LOVE THE BEAT @ 3:45 THAT WAS FUCKIN FIRE) - 6/10

13)Deep Throat
- THIS TRACK IS STRAIGHT FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!! - LOVE THE ICE CUBE INTRO, LOVE THE ROCK N ROLL BEAT...THIS IS THE SHIT I LOVE....LOVE THAT PSYCHO VOICE...THIS IS 1 OF MY FAVORITE SONGS, STOP TRYING TURN A HOE INTO A HOUSE WIFE!!! - 10/10

14)HOLLYWOOD
- THIS TRACK IS STRAIGHT MUTHAPHUKKIN FIRE!!!!! LOVE THE ROCK N ROLL BEAT AGAIN, THIS SHIT IS PURE FIRE...COLD187UM SPITTING SOME MUTHAPHUKKIN FIRE!!!! - THIS IS 1 OF MY OTHER FAVORITE SONGS...I GIVE THIS TRACK - 10/10

15)HUSTLERS CRY
- ALRIGHT THE BEAT ON THIS IS OKAY, THE LYRICS ARE DOPE...AND CHORUS NOT FEELING IT...ITS ALRIGHT TRACK 5/10

16)AKLIKANIGA
- THE BEAT ON THIS TRACK IS PRETTY GOOD, COLD187UM SPITS FIRE ON HERE, AND THE CHORUS IS PRETTY DOPE...THIS IS A GOOD LAID BACK TRACK 8.5/10

17)MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
- THIS SONG IS OKAY ALSO, THE BEAT IS TOO STAR WARS LOL...IT NEEDS A DIFFERENT BEAT TO IT...MAYBE A REMIX...ANYWAYS LYRICS ARE SICK AS FUCKKKK, CHORUS IS TYTE...ALL IT NEEDS IS A NEW BEAT THEN THE SONG WOULD BE TYTE SO I GIVE THIS TRACK 8.5/10

18)187RELOADED
- THIS SONG IS FIRE!!!!!! THIS IS 1 OF MY OTHER FAVORITE TRACKS!..LOVE THE BEAT ROCK N ROLL GANGSTER RAP BEAT MIXED IN 1...187 SPITTING SOME FIRE ON THIS 1...SICK FUCKIN TRACK LOVE IT - 10/10

19)AMERICA X
- THIS SONG AIGHT..I DONT LIKE THE ANNOYING WHISTLING GOING ON...THE LYRICS ARE OKAY...I GIVE THIS SONG 4/10


overall the CD was 7/10 (3.5/5)



Cool little breakdown...  ;)
There was a couple of weak cuts on it,but I feel most of the tracks.
My favorites;
-So real
-Preach
-Fresh out
-Hollywood
-May the force be with you
-187 reloaded


My rating will land somewhere between 3-3.5 out of 5
« Last Edit: August 08, 2008, 06:36:12 AM by Chad Vader »
 

o g s u e s o n e

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Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #187 on: August 10, 2008, 09:19:05 AM »
the new c187um disc is fuckin sick....luv it, glad hes back up in this mufucka.
 

Chad Vader

  • Guest
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #188 on: August 12, 2008, 08:43:24 AM »
New interview; August 12, 2008
DubCNN Exclusive: BIG HUTCH AKA COLD 187UM interview (Dr. Dre/Eazy E/Jerry Heller/Snoop)



For the second time in 2008 [February 2008 interview], Dubcnn caught up with Cold 187um AKA Big Hutch for an exclusive interview. In this two part feature, he reveals the truth behind the origin of Dr. Dre's signature sound, which he introduced to Death Row Records and resulted in an aftermath of success for the mega producer.

Also, hear how Snoop Dogg really came up... You'll be surprised to hear 187 open up about his personal business dealings with Eazy-E and Jerry Heller, uncovering a very different perspective on the way business was handled at Ruthless Records.

Cold 187um eventually realized he couldn't live Above The Law forever -- being arrested and sent away -- causing him to reflect on the message he was portraying and accepting accountability for his youthful ignorance, as he fought his way through the gruelling life behind bars.

Having these talents locked up made up for the explosive new album, Fresh Out The Pen…
Read this powerful, compelling, controversial, and moving testimony in the exclusive, heart-felt Dubcnn interview by Jonathan Hay and Chad Kiser.

http://dubcnn.com/interviews/bighutch08-part1/

As always, you can hit me up on www.myspace.com/jonathanhay or email me at haywire@dubcnn.com and be sure to leave feedback on our forums!


Dubcnn: Do you feel that you get enough credit for all that you have brought to the table and accomplished for the hip-hop culture?

I’m here to let the world know that I'm the one who created it [the original G-Funk sound], you know what I mean? So, basically, I mean [Dr] Dre had a situation to where he had [a chance] to let people know that he was highly influenced by a producer like myself, you know what I mean? That I'm the one that brought G Funk to the table -- but I think people think it's like I'm some kid that came up under Dre that's like a little bit bitter that I didn't get all my props from other things that I've done in the music industry, ya dig? And it's like I'm trying to jump on the bandwagon like everybody else and say ‘Well, Dre ain't this and Dre ain't that...’ and, you know, what I think what's bad is that I was Dr. Dre's understudy for a lot of years at Ruthless [Records], right? And when I created G-Funk, it was a more so situation to where it was more our coined flavor of Above The Law, so he kind of took some theories and ideas that I had and brought it over to Death Row.

Now I didn’t have a problem with that because, as I just explained to you, I was his understudy, no problem, you know what I’m saying, you know, you give some stuff, I give some stuff, we gel together, you know what I mean? What my problem was, when you’re addressed with it and you know ‘how did you find this new sound or whatever’, you didn’t say, ‘well, it’s this kid I worked with -- 187aka Big Hutch -- you know, so on and so on, I got the theory from him’ and he never really coined the fact of where it ever came from.

Snoop in turn came through us... Snoop was actually in development by me, I was developing Snoop as well as Warren G and they ended up turning the corner and ended up being at Death Row when there was a lot of turmoil going on at Ruthless Records. It’s alright, I’m just saying, if I get an idea from somebody, I should give them their props. It’s not like I’m saying he’s wack or anything, so I don’t want anybody [to think] that I have a problem with Dr. Dre, I love Dr. Dre. Dr. Dre, along with Eazy E are the guys who put me in the game; you know what I’m saying. But he broke camp and took a style that I innovated, you know, sorry! I came to Ruthless when Ruthless was built by Dr. Dre, you feel me? It was already built, ya dig? But I can say, I invented that style, that flavor…


Dubcnn: I was just thinking about that when you were talking and it’s crazy… not only can you [go back] and do the research, but when you listen to the albums that came out around the same time that Dre had his hands in [the production], when you listen to Livin’ Like Hustlers, it was so much more musical than anything at the time… and then they took that sound and embellished it and that’s what created the whole [G-Funk sound] – cause Straight Outta Compton it didn’t sound like that, it wasn’t that musical, with all that real instrumentation like you had it laid out…

The thing about it is, at the time, it went from a boom and a bap, to a baseline, to more like chord progression and changes, grooves and singing, you know what I mean?


Dubcnn: Yeah, melodic… Like you were saying earlier…

Yeah, the changes [sings melody], all the melodic tones…the goony sounding shit, all of those elements mixed into hip-hop.


Dubcnn: I was wondering, how much was Eazy E actually involved with the business aspect of Ruthless Records?

Well, you know, one hundred percent. And I think that he just loved music so much, and he was the shot caller when it came to that, so he had a lot to do with it in that aspect. He just said, ‘ok I can sell this’ he just could hear it and say he could sell it, you feel me? That’s how in-tune he was with his business.


Dubcnn: How much involvement did you have with Jerry Heller?

I dealt with Jerry day-to-day just as well as I dealt with Eric [Eazy E], you know. He was the office guy and Eric was the guy in the field. I could easily pick up the phone and talk to Jerry, the game wasn’t set up like that, you know…


Dubcnn: Was Jerry fair with you guys as far as business dealings?

Yeah, you know, the thing that I say is crazy and I never really knew all of the politics of NWA because that was their thing, but I can say that without Jerry, I don’t think that we would’ve achieved a lot [of the things] that we’ve achieved as a label because Jerry loved what we was doing – he’ll tell you he couldn’t understand it at the time, but he loved it. He lived in the music industry for a lot of years [and] I think he loved our passion, our drive, our focus for work and everything. We were all with big companies and we were saying some of the most outlandish shit in the world at the time. Who would stand up for that? Who would’ve gone up to bat for that? Who do you know that would go up to bat for that nowadays? You know what I’m saying? So think about it; he went to bat for us a lot of times. We was ‘Fuck everybody, Fuck the city, Fuck the police, Fuck these people, Fuck that,’ you know what I’m saying? He went in and backed us.


Dubcnn: Tell us about your new album, Straight Out The Pen?

I’m the type of person with media and with the press, I’m real, you know what I mean and when I came out with my album I wanted to put me on the record, and I’m saying whatever I want to say and however I was feeling. I don’t want to have people in the studio like ‘oh, I wouldn’t say that…’ you know, or “I wouldn’t talk about that…’ I didn’t wanna have that. Because that’s the type of industry that we in now, so you know, I’ll take you guys on different kinds of journeys musically on this record…but it’s straight-forward.


Dubcnn: Being both an artist and a musician, and being locked up, how did you deal with not having studios around, or not having instruments, etc?

I composed probably 80 percent of my album in my head and it’s funny, because the last twelve months of being incarcerated, I actually wrote my music out really, because what I did at the last place I was at, it only had like acoustic instruments, it only had like piano – you couldn’t program there, basically. What I had to do with all the music that I had wrote in my head – cause you do write in your head – I went and played all the melodies out on the piano and got all the music laid out before I got home. I wrote what was in my head, all the changes, every instrument that I wanted, I wrote it down on the music chart. I wrote that record all the way out, so when I got home I composed it out the same way. My focus was to do my time and go home and to get back to my career…that’s it.


Dubcnn: I remember when I was reading that Tupac article in Vibe when he was in prison and that he felt his soul was dead and he couldn’t think about any kind of music until he got out, and then he went on and recorded, All Eyes On Me…

I couldn’t do music in the penitentiary. I did my time like a convict, not like a jukebox, I didn’t go around rapping to everybody, I didn’t go around rapping in every circle, I didn’t go around telling mutha-fuckas I had a million songs, you know what I’m saying? It’s funny like how Pac was saying it, ‘cause when you first get locked up that’s how you feel. Like the first [several] months when I was locked up, I didn’t think about doing nothing but doing time, you know, I didn’t think about nothing. And then at one point, I was like well shit I’m here, I gotta think about when I get out. What am I gonna do when I get out? So I had to start thinking about the outside, you know what I mean? I couldn’t ball up like that. I mean the one thing you do – and I agree with Pac – is your reflection on it, because the things that happened to me after I got home was the real blueprint for Straight Out The Pen. You’ll wonder what happened to me when I was in the penitentiary. Because, guess what, all I had to do every day is do my time. And I’m going to agree with Pac on that because, on one note, I’m gonna keep it real with ya’ll, the one thing is that you don’t get no extra privileges, you are a convict in there.

After you understand that you are in the penitentiary and go through that time, it’s about getting out, you know. It’s not about being in there, trying to trip off of being a convict cause you’ll be stuck, man, cause one day you’re gonna get out. That’s like if Pac wouldn’t have got out like he got out, eventually he would’ve had to start planning what he was going to do when he got out of the penitentiary. It just so happened for him, right when it started clicking for him, he end up getting out of that shit, you know? See me, I had to do my time basically, I did my time. I bought my time. Not to say that he didn’t [do] his time, he did time there as well, but a lot of things he talks about like when he say in “Hail Mary” ‘the penitentiary is packed with promise makers never realize the precious time the bitch niggaz is wasting’ – it’s full of that, it’s full of mother-fuckas making promises and dreaming and all that and never realizing and I just refused to sit around and die in there, for real, I mean I refused to let my soul die in there. One thing my mother and my father asked me anytime they talked to me – my father he’s passed away and everything, but my biological mother and foster dad they still living and everything – and they asked me questions, but the most that they wanted to know [while I was in there] was my soul, how was my soul? I said well they ain’t take my soul yet, so, I’m good.

You come out alright, you come out a better man, you know what I mean? So anytime we allow something like that to take our spirit and our soul away, we might as well die in there. If you ain’t willing to push that lie to do that time, don’t speak on it, don’t put yourself in that position because when it come, it’s real. And that’s one of my biggest messages: be responsible for the things you do, you know what I’m saying, because I was. When it got down to the down and dirty, and this may not pertain to anything in your interview but put it down - when it came to muther-fuckas asking me would I cooperate with them, I said no, I’ll do time in the penitentiary. [I would never snitch] because me as a man, I’d done the crime, ya dig? I’m not gonna tell on nobody, when I done the crime that ya’ll got me for. You feel me? I’m not gonna do that, I’m not gonna send nobody to jail – I didn’t go to three months of police academy and a [become a cop], I’m not gonna do that to get outta trouble, you know what I’m saying? I’m gonna do my time so all you people chasing this and chasing that, these youngsters or whatever, I try to give it to them on the real like, hey, I hope you can do the time you know what I’m saying, cause I know young dudes coming in on the block chasing that pack ,got thirty, got life, you know what I’m saying? So I hope you ready for that side of it, because it’s a reality of the shit.

All those things that we sit up and talk about it’s real, homie, I did time in the penitentiary it’s not a dream you guys, it’s not a Hollywood story homie, it’s not a Bobby Brown slap on the wrist story. I was in there eating soup like everybody else. I had a number, I had to stand up everyday at 4:00, I became like a F-cking piece of cattle homie. You know what I’m saying? It’s real, homie. I lost my family, I lost a lot of my friends in this entertainment business homie, because of that, homie, because of me doing shit, some punk ass bull shit, to live a lifestyle that’s not suiting for nobody, homie. I’m real, homie. You know, I’m still a dude that you can’t come in my face and stand toe to toe to me and talk sideways to me and me not take your mother-fuckin head off. But I’ll say something real to you: don’t be out there playing those games, they got a place for you, they got a place for you. You wanna be big paid with the big bling and shine, go get a job, save up your money and shine; don’t be on the block chasing the pack cause dude got something for ya’ll, you know what I’m saying? So, I’m a keep it one hundred with ya’ll. This is me talking – this is 187 talking, the dude that talked more shit than the law has allowed. But when it’s real, it’s real. You better get focused and stop living in a lie…


Dubcnn: That’s deep…. real deep. Earlier [in the interview] you said something like Snoop actually started out at Ruthless?

Yeah, he did, he was brought to us by Warren G – Warren G used to sleep on my floor, he used to always tell me about this kid named Snoop, I said we’ll reach out, man, you know what I’m saying, lets give him a call, so Snoop came, he reached out, he’s incredible, you know and so we started developing some ideas for Snoop. What happened in the situation was the camp broke up. They ended up deciding to go with Dre; we ended up deciding to stay at Ruthless, so there it is.


Dubcnn: I never knew that part of the story…

That’s real talk. He [Snoop] was always around and Dr. Dre came and asked me what I thought about him, he said I’m thinking about fucking with dude, what do you think about him? I was like, he’s incredible, he can pop out freestyles like crazy, you know what I’m saying, I’d fuck with him, he’s like oh, ok. He was already on the wire, I tell you the truth, he was already on the wire. If you notice, if you look at the Deep Cover soundtrack I have music on the Deep Cover soundtrack as well as Snoop. That’s another thing; I was supposed to be on the Deep Cover record. They just imitated my voice. That’s why he say it like that “cause it’s 187 on an undercover cop”. You know, it’s time for the truth to be told, I know it’s gonna hurt a lot of people but it needs to be told.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…
« Last Edit: January 13, 2010, 11:03:58 PM by Vader »
 

D-Stress

  • Guest
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #189 on: August 12, 2008, 09:21:07 AM »
^^  :o
 

Chad Vader

  • Guest
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #190 on: September 03, 2008, 08:18:34 AM »
this is 1 of the traks leaked from ther "Diary Of A Drug Dealer" deathrow album that unfortunately never got put out.
Above The Law - Let It Be Known
dope ass track but its only a 2mins though, does any1 have the full version?

cheers
 

dirdee

  • Lil Geezy
  • *
  • Posts: 88
  • Karma: 310
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #191 on: September 03, 2008, 01:58:40 PM »
damn, where did you get that track from???? i thought i know every single track, feature, etc. from above the law.
 

Raine

  • Lil Geezy
  • *
  • Posts: 93
  • Karma: 10
  • RAINE N LANE N KOKANE THE ALBUM OUT NOW!!!
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #192 on: September 04, 2008, 02:29:03 AM »
RAINE N LANE N KOKANE THE ALBUM COMES OUT SEPTEMBER 9TH!! PRE ORDERS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW AT www.myspace.com/rainendem

DONT SLEEP!!! WE THE NEXT GENERATION OF THIS REAL WESTCOAST SHIT. WE AINT FENNA DICK RIDE THE SOUTH TO SELL RECORDS.

FUCK THAT.

HIT UP OUR PAGE AND PICK UP A COPY. ILL SHIP IT TO YOU PERSONALLY.

CUSTOMIZED AUTOGRAPHED COPIES FROM ME AND KOKANE AVAILABLE AS WELL. GET AT ME.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2008, 02:30:46 AM by Raine »
ORDER RAINE n LANE n KOKANE THE ALBUM NOW AT

www.myspace.com/rainendem.

Shipping Worldwide


 

Chad Vader

  • Guest
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #193 on: September 04, 2008, 08:37:45 PM »
NonCentz ...... (do I need to say more  :P  :laugh: ;))



The son of Motown composer Jerry Long, Sr., Kokane is known for his legendary work with the classic group Above The Law, and featuring on Dr. Dre’s masterpieces, aka The Chronic and 2001, he is the industry’s most featured artist.

This is made even more clear when you scroll through the man’s catalog and you see appearances listed with Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Tha Eastsidaz, Eazy-E, Xzibit, Too $hort, Young Buck, and the list goes on.

Dubcnn recently caught back up with the legendary Kokane to talk about what he’s been up to, what new projects we can expect from him, working with the original funk masters George Clinton and Bootsy Collins, and about the possiblity of seeing him feature once again with Dr. Dre on the mega-producer’s final opus, Detox. We touch a lil' bit on the upcoming presidential election, more specifically Barack Obama, and we get Kokane’s deep, insightful look into the west coast’s status in the industry.

Koka is also finishing up the new project with Meech Wells titled The New West World Order Four dropping in November, as well as his solo album, Back To The Future due out early next year.

Here is Kokane – Raw & UnKut!!

DubCNN; Kokane interview. September 08

Stay tuned to dubcnn for more on updates on Kokane and as always we encourage you drop your feedback and comments on the forum or by dropping me an e-mail to chad@dubcnn.com.


Dubcnn: Koka, what’s been going on with you, homie?

Man, been working like a chicken with my head cut off man; got a lot on my plate now. I just finished an album called Back To The Future. I got cameos on there from Bootsy Collins, Cameo, George Clinton, Tina Marie, Rakim, Above the Law, Crooked I, Redman, Daz, Kurupt and a couple more surprises. Back to the essence we call ourselves the new Parliament. We about to hit’em hard, man, especially from the west coast!


Dubcnn: Who do you have producing on this Back To The Future record?

We went with these cats in Seattle called High Powered. We have the album together, but we are shopping it around trying to get the right deal. I am working with this kid named John Silva, and a couple of more people like definitely Meech [Wells], Knucklehead, Baldy and LayLaw It is one of them heaters, it’s a finger banger.


Dubcnn: So you’re still a part of the High Powered Entertainment group then?

Yes! Besides that, me and Meech [Wells] done hooked up and we’re bringing it back to the essence. You know, we’re fixing to do a lot of stuff like Parliament did. They started out with Parliament, then they did the Funkadelics; we’re going to do all kinds of stuff like that. It feels real good to do all this and hook back up with that brother because at one time over at the Dogghouse it was really magic, and Meech was a part of that, so big up to that dude.


Dubcnn: In the last interview you did with Dubcnn you were talking about a group called Toe Jam, so all of that is still full steam ahead?

Oh yeah! That is actually the name of my band like Kokane and Toe Jam, like Parliament and the Funkadelics. It’s a 10-piece setup, just minimized from the Parliament thing, but it’s hitting just as hard. But yeah, it’s a beautiful thing; the funk is back! That’s what I’m telling everybody. Coming out here from the west coast, sometimes we kind of drift away and everybody’s got a season to go ahead and have the flag; like the South got it, like east coast got it, but now it’s coming back to the essence from the west coast because getting tired of just getting nit picked on. The radio stations are disrespecting artists out here that really have talent. So, we’re like no more! There is a big campaign going on out here. The big wigs are going to have to start embracing the ones from the new west. We’re supposed to be one big family; ain’t no kings out here. And if you look at everybody else, the reason why they treat us like that is because of the way we treat each other out here. So all of that monotony is getting ready to go out the window, homie.


Dubcnn: You talk about the funk is back and you talk about that toe jam I am interested well wondering if it is going to be like a modern day Parliament can you expand a lil' bit more on that I know you said it is made up of 10 people but can you tell us a little bit more about it?

I mean, when I said we had Cameo, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Tina Marie that shows you where we are trying to take it, you know what I am saying? We ain’t playing with it. I don't down grade nobody’s music, but we are really taking it there. For the first time in rap history, with Kokane being put into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most featured rap artist, I was the one that could do that. I put together an old album with the old that sounds like it came from the 70’s. That’s what the game needs right now; it needs to get back to doing that real music, period! To me there are a lot of cats out here that are getting back to the essence. I’m not dissing nobody, but right now music sounds horrible nowadays! I can't knock their hustle, but from the old school point of view you got to keep it funky, jack, regardless. Across the world people want to hear the funk. So that is what we are bringing back to the people, that real sound, where black music can be respected


Dubcnn: Working with cats like Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Larry Blackmond, etc., what’s it like to get in the studio with them cats and work with them?

Man, it is mind blowing! No disrespect to the Snoop’s and Dre’s or anybody, but it ain’t nothing like working with them cats. When I first came in there and met George, I am not even going to lie; I got street credit and all that, but I kind of clammed up homie. Because it was like, man, this is the dream come true. Then when you see these guys actually work it has never left them. It’s amazing! That’s when I say O Lord, thank you Jesus; I’m on the right track because this is what I was made to do. My dad was a writer he wrote Just My Imagination, Still Waters Run Deep, Smiling Faces; so it was in the blood already. Seeing George Clinton in the L.A. Coliseum long before most people were even born, I mean it grabbed me. I was trying to sing like him and everything and then to finally meet and work with him was nice. It’s like the old funk landed with the Mothership and the new funk landed with the Mothership and it’s off the Richter scale, trust me.


Dubcnn: See fans, not just of rap music, but all kinds of music get stuck in different era’s; like for me I like the whole 88' through 96' rap era because I feel that is when rap was at its funkiest. I feel like music has lost it’s creativity, and it’s missing that originality that came before and during that time.

Yeah, that is what we are trying to apply to the game with a lot of other people. When you listen to the Funkadelic and Parliament they had a message in all of their songs, you know what I am saying? Chocolate City was talking about the social breakdown of society, and being from a suppressed environment, growing up in the hood. It is like we done lost our damn minds. I am basically saying this: get your ass out the camera shop cause I got something to say to people. It was like a tsunami wave of people just bamboozled! Life just don’t consist of diamonds and bitches and bars and hanging out all the time; it is real folks just going through real pain then it starts to be a problem. That’s what funk music is and I am trying to express it in our music man. It is a problem when 10,000 kids know 10,000 hooks before they know two sentences of scripture, before they know how to apply the intelligence in everything. It’s talking about that, but at the same time incorporating the music and messages with the sound; and talking about how most blacks cannot even go to college out here, get in trouble with their credit and have to sell dope in the streets. How jails become big business for cooperate people and different other situations. It is like people are scared to go there, but it’s gotta be back to that old mentality each one teach one. That is what the Funkdelic’s and Parliament’s represents. It’s like the bottom of the soul done dropped out for a minute, but you got people that is getting back on that roll.


Dubcnn: Why do you think people are scared of speaking their minds and standing up, unlike what we’re seeing with Killer Mike, Ice Cube and Nas?

It is a fear factor thing. it’s like we speak our minds, but the media played it out like African medallion chains; that it is wrong to go ahead to go head and talk something positive and helping your brother out. That is why I love Public Enemy a lot because they were so gangster and yet they talked about a positive thing. That is the one thing and reason why they shut that out because the biggest thing in order to get you off that focus is to discredit you. They didn't discredit talking about positive music and bringing it back to the funk for a long time. So, when it starts getting out there like that it spreads like a cancer and then it starts reaching out demographically to the masses. That is why you have people that are not interested because it is like it is wrong to talk about something. It’s like, you can shake your ass to it, but it seems like it is wrong to talk about God or why Brenda still has a baby and different things like that. It is like Pac really was the last of the Mohicans talking like that. We have to get back to that because we are, to a certain extent, responsible for everything we do. The homie’s are lying when they say they don't.

It is like I said before, how are you not responsible when five of them homie’s know five thousand rap songs before they even how to finish SAT scores? Man, this rap music and rap culture is deeper than all that, but we have to get back to the soul music. I am a firm believer in making raw funk, but I believe that God is back in soul and because of that we can turn this thing around, and start doing live tours. It’s like all these people we have out here on the west coast and none of them really embrace each other because it’s a ‘me’ situation, when we should get together and start doing tours, you know what I mean? The younger generations look up to you, so let’s go ahead and embrace the youth and put aside about what a dude want to do for me and about who is the big wig, who is the king and things like that. We have to get back to the realness of it and keep it one hundred.

There was a time and era, when we were coming out with these records in the 90's like Black Superman, Uncle Sam’s Curse, Funk Upon A Rhyme, No Pain No Gain and people were like ‘ah, I feel that because I’m going through that’. It’s like the whole game has been bamboozled! Twenty years in the game and still it is a blessing to be alive and play this post. Most people who are in the game this long are like ‘I am in the game this long and blah, blah’. No! It is a honor to be in the game this long to play that post, and some people mis-use their influence and that’s going to catch up to them because the people on the west coast are hungry for getting their break again. From where they come from there are families behind this. In the west coast culture that says it all in a nut shell: there are families behind us. So, anybody out there, I am not going to say no names, but anybody, they need to come down off that high ladder that they are on and come down and try to embrace these young brothers.


Dubcnn: That’s real talk! Now, you’ve worked with a who’s who of people like Big Hutch, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Xzibit, Snoop, Bootsy, George Clinton, Young Buck, Spice 1, Too Short, Ice Cube, and more! I mean, the list goes on. You’ve been featured on so many platinum, classic and influential albums, more than anyone can count. Being the most featured artist out there, is there anyone left for you to work with in this industry?

Man, just God's work and that is coming soon *laughs* That is it, man, to use my influence and talk to these brothers. Traditional is traditional, but then God is waking up the soldiers to go ahead to use their influence and help these kids. We have to start pumping out positivity, upliftment, and encouragement. That is where I am going with it; modern day Curtis Mayfield with a Bootsy twist and George Clinton.


Dubcnn: Talk about hooking back up with Meech, and what that means to you.

I am glad I hooked back up with Meech because we have fun doing what we do. Looking at all them cats like Rick James, Stone City Band, Zapp, I mean there is something about that dude, man. He’s incredible! I am glad to see him getting his opportunity to get his chance again because for a time it was real pure over at the Dogghouse at one time. For good or for bad I am going to say cause the situation was wrong because we are past that, but it was beautiful. When Tha Eastsidaz were out and Meech was over there, Cat and all of them; it was beautiful over there, I swear to God! It was like we were going everywhere and you could feel it. It was the same intensity when NWA was doing their thing. For better or for worse, the same thing the devil is designed to take away, is the same things that God helps me on, you know what I am saying? I bump into the homies every now and then; there is not no love lost, but at the same time I know where we came from Above the Law. We were the originators of G-Funk, period. And if you do your home work, we have not been saying nothing for a long time about where a lot of stuff came from, we felt at that time people did concepts. Now it is time for people to know the truth about everything. Like the Lord says, ‘the truth shall set you free!’


Dubcnn: My partner, Jonathan Hay & I, interviewed Hutch a few weeks ago and I asked him this question about G-Funk: Twenty years later, is there a place for G-Funk in today’s era?

Ah yeah, because George Clinton’s stuff that he made back then people are paying a hundred to a hundred-fifty dollars on Amazon for those records! If you hear some of them beats that Hutch did back on Uncle Sam’s Curse was amazing homie! We were the blueprint out here on the west coast for a lot of brothers to get that sound because we were touching on it. Eazy exposed it, it did what it could do with the controversy of him passing, but it was amazing, man. I run into everybody, man, from Outkast, Dungeon Family, and they’re like, ‘what was you all doing back then? It’s like you all was on a Mothership for real!’ I said, ‘we were just funky.’ That was that era, we was wet in the funk. That is all we did was study records: the music theory, concepts, beats, funk. and then you know inadvertently people like it. Now we’re right back together: Above the Law and Kokane we back.


Dubcnn: Are you all working on anything right now?

Yeah, we’re working right now! I live out in Seattle now and I chopped it up with those guys and it was beautiful, man, beautiful. From the fan perspective all across the map that’s what they want to see. When you water down stuff for so long, people finally wake up and start saying ‘I am tired of hearing that rinky-dink m mess!.’ So, we come with that fire and, you know, strength through unity and if the west coast embrace each other its going to come back much stronger.


Dubcnn: That’s where I respect Snoop because he was instrumental in bringing out Tha Eastsidaz, and now Dubb Union and WarZone. He’s been upfront about keeping the west united, you know so it’s a good look to that.

Yeah, man it’s cool. That brother is definitely doing his part, but instrumentally each person has to do their own part not just Snoop, but it has to be Meech, Dre, Snoop, Cube, and guys like Glasses Malone and other up and coming people. It has to be everybody. There is no reason why the west coast does not have their own hip-hop award show and the whole word done nitpicked. We got to move through intelligence right now, it can’t just be a one-man band; we all have to get in together because it just can’t just be Snoop doing his thing with the Western Union over there. That is tight that they're doing their thing, we just can’t hear one person on the radio, you have to start hearing west coast artists. As far as the radio is concerned I am going to put this out here on the limb: they have never catered to me, but they had to play me because I was on so many songs, but it is time to go in there and they are going to be forced to play our music, guaranteed!


Dubcnn: Are you working with Snoop?

I am not working with him currently, but I bumped into him not too long ago. We talked and went on our ways. It is all good you know we have to keep it comfortable like that. We both are doing our thing.


Dubcnn: You mentioned back in April that you and Snoop were going to be doing a song called The L-Code. is that still in the works?

I wanted to put him on that, but at the time I guess he is in a situation where he couldn't get back. Hopefully we can get back in there again. I love him to death, but we got to keep it pushing.


Dubcnn: You were on Dre's Chronic album, and you were on his 2001 album as well. In the last interview with Dubcnn you had mentioned that you guys have rekindled everything, so does that mean that we will see you on Detox?

Man, who knows? That man has a million and one songs! I sent him some stuff, and we briefly talked about it, but there is nothing locked in like that. I sent him some stuff and I hope to be one of them songs that he likes on there. You know, our peoples have been talking and so who knows? But it would make since.


Dubcnn: Talking about Dre and bringing things back to an essence. What is the possibility of not so much of an NWA reunion, but about getting Dre, and Hutch producing again and then having Kokane on there what are your thoughts about that?

Man, it is time consuming you know. Everybody has their own schedule. Those are two very great black men and they showed each other a lot of stuff and it is sad sometimes when we can’t put away some stuff. The odds of them doing it is pride, but not saying that Hutch is right or wrong because that is my cousin. And not saying that Dre is right or wrong, but if they come together and can put their pride aside then you know it would have to be for the love because Dre is filthy stinking rich and Hutch is well off. So if the money is thrown out, the pride put in the back pocket, and the love is there then we can do some great things, man.


Dubcnn: Yeah it just got me thinking because one thing I heard Dre talking about on his Detox album is that he said he was trying to work with all the people that he has ever worked with before. I was wondering how far back he was willing to go with that.

Man, you know how this game is where things just be changing and keeps on changing. Through all the nonsense, man we come together as brothers and the unity, but some people on the west coast want to treat a brother like he is a flea or something. God really does not like ugly and it will catch up to you. I think God for humbling me because that arrogant stuff is out the window. A lot of these people are in the closet this and in the closet that. Man, drop the issues and embrace the love for your brother! Some people are not going to listen to that because they are stuck with their insecurities. I mean some of the biggest stars out there are rapping and don’t want to embrace their insecurities. It isn’t no use in talking about mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all? What happens when you die broke and by yourself? You can have all them chips and then when a whole coast turns on you because you've been faking everybody out for all them years, making broken promises. It will catch up to you. What I am telling you is 100% true! When brothers hear this they are going to be like ‘he’s telling the truth!’


Dubcnn: You said the word campaign earlier and it got me to thinking: what are your thoughts on Obama?

Oh man! Your mama if you’re not for Obama! *laughs* That is a good brother and a beautiful thing that is going on right there, man. For so long we’ve been conditioned to think that things can’t happen for us. To see Obama up there has my family talking, my aunties and uncles are talking saying “we never did think that in this lifetime that it would be a black man having a chance to be president.’ The same thing I told you about making a difference doing the live tours, man yes we can! We can do the live tours to make a difference, homie that is why I love that dude. Us as a culture we need a break and something new to look at because for a time all we had to look at is the systems way of doing things; setting us up for big business making beds and couches in jails, not thinking about how they are taking away all your education and everything. Big ups to Obama because everyday, as a black man I wake up and I got on an Obama shirt, pants, hats, pins, and even wrote on my shoes Obama! That is good for us. If God is with you who can stand against you? So all the little stuff that we are used to doing we have to start thinking to ourselves let me get with this dude and get on television and politics to show them that we are not a bunch of dummies. Let me show them how we are not a bunch of stereotypes. Look how we are getting together.


Dubcnn: It’s been great to be seeing all your changes and maturity throughout the years in the game. It’s truly an inspiration.

Thank you! God bless you!


Dubcnn: I think that about does it on this on Koka. Is there anything else you want to say before I let you go?

To all the people out there, do not concentrate on who or what people think. Like I said if God is with you, yeah I know I might cuss and then turn around and say God bless you but God and I are working on that you know keep your head up and keep believing in the sound. Anybody out there rapping black, white, Latino, or whoever tell you nothing because you can do it if you put your mind to it you know what I am saying. The odds are not against you that is what I keep telling the whole world and public.

Mad love to Dubcnn and much love for life. Every two weeks we are going to be slapping them upside the head! Me and Meech are going to be hitting them with thumpers, we already have over 60 beats and songs done exclusive on Dubcnn much love homies.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2010, 11:16:58 PM by Vader »
 

Rick James

  • Guest
Re: Official ATL thread(Above the Law, Not Atlanta)
« Reply #194 on: September 07, 2008, 02:25:20 PM »
the thing i dont like is thingz like these

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fifqxqwhldhe~T0

Above the Law's third album, Uncle Sam's Curse,
shows the Los Angeles rap crew incorporating some of Dr. Dre's sonic innovations into their basic gangsta rap sound. The group remains fine rappers and several of the tracks rank among their finest work, but the album is little more than a holding pattern -- instead of moving forward, they're just keeping up with their contemporaries.

give the original developers sum respect mayn.