THE DEFINITIVE Death Row Records/Tha Row Thread

[3dfan]

Chocolate Bandit
Real Name: William A. Green
Aliases: Junior Nite
Groups: Jr. Nites
Label: Death Row Records/Death Row Records South
Scheduled Release Year: 1998
Project Status: Complete - Released 2001 under the title Lyrical Warfare via the labels Country Boy Records and Warlock Records.
Scheduled Singles: Gotta Have It
Years Signed: 1997 - 1998 (Contract expired in 2001)
Status: Official Artist

Biography:

   Chocolate Bandit dropped out of professional football in 1997 to pursue a rap career with Death Row Records. He signed a 3.4 Million dollar record deal with a new division of Death Row Records - Death Row South, thanks to his then representative Bo Blunt. Via Blunt's moves Chocolate Bandit's popularity in the Texas area started rising and had gained the attention of Death Row producer Reggie Moore. After Reggie and Chocolate working together on Chocolate's shelved debut LP - Lyrical Warfare/To The Extent things started getting ugly between various other artists and Chocolate Bandit. Tha Realest and Young Doobie, both Death Row inmates, teamed up against Chocolate Bandit and Blunt forcing Chocolate Bandit to be thrown off the label and pay Death Row royalties (such as his signing bonus) as well as give his 50,000 dollar chain back. After leaving Death Row and staying quiet a few years due to his album still being liscensed by Death Row, he re-emerged in 2001 with his album from Death Row - Lyrical Warfare. After releasing the album Chocolate Bandit faded away into the background of the music scene. He is said to be residing in Dallas, Texas.

Rumors:

Chocolate Bandit was apparently responsible for leaking various 2Pac songs in order to form the infamous 'Makaveli' bootleg series.

Facts:

Young Doobie stole Chocolate Bandit's beat for his own song "I'm Country". Chocolate Bandit's song was entitled Just Touch Me which featured the Jr. Nites and was produced by Curt Couthon better known as super producer Kurt Kobane.

Reggie Moore had the alias of Mo'sart on Chocolate Bandit's album most likely due to his ties with Death Row. Reggie Moore also did the speaking on the intro and outro.

Reggie Moore brought in Ali Woodson, a member of The Temptations and childhood friend of Reggie, to do vocal work for Chocolate Bandit's album.

Chocolate Bandit had beef with fellow labelmates Young Doobie and Tha Realest due to various factors mainly brought on by Tha Realest.

In the words of Blunt:

"Blunt also represented 3.4 million dollar Artist Chocalet Bandit whom Suge Knight signed to the Death Row South label. He was the first artist to sign with the south label,Death Row faced many problems after the Death of 2 Pac and Dre leaving the label. Since the Row could not break into top radio station K104.5 Fm. Blunt who was family with the Radio station and friend to the owner Hyman Childs. Blunt went into the office and set down with Hyman advising him after many hard years tring to get on a national level he had the opportunity to sign million dollar artist Chocalet Bandit. Blunt excepted the owners approval, and then went to program director and on air personality Skip Cheatham and got his approval Blunt then signed the artist under Blunt Tyme Management,and took the Ball and ran with it like Barry Sanders those that know me im a mover and shaker. I started breaking the artist on the air and geting him live performances with the station. Blunt's name then started to be talked about BIG by producer Reggie Mo who produced Toss it up for 2pac R.I.P. That he was a BIG fish in Dallas Texas and making moves for real. Blunt started to see problems ocurring with the artist and label. After Blunt confronted Death row artist The Realist about talking down on Blunt. Blunt saw the label kick chocalet Bandit to the curb because he and The Realist did not see Eye to Eye,and after heated telephone conversation with Forth Worth artist Doobie signed to death row and receiving a death threat one evening while Blunt was having a business meeting with the artist over the 50,000.00 Death row neckless Chocalet Bandit was wearing. Blunt advise client to call Reggie Mo to find out if the was orderd by Suge Knight and was told no. Blunt said send the 50k Neckless back to Death Row. Blunt then realize that it was time to cut the relationship off so Blunt sent Death Row a letter of resignation and moved on to other ventures."

Thank you so much for posting this detailed info - very cool post!

[2euce 7even]

where can i unreleased songs lists?pdf´files?

[2euce 7even]

TORONTO -- Newly resurrected rap label Death Row Records is expanding into film production.

Death Row Records CEO Lara Lavi said her new Death Row Films division is set to shoot "Sons 2 the Grave" in Toronto in October, with Tonya Lee Williams, Dorian Harewood, K.C. Collins ("Flashpoint") and child actor Cameron Miles Jones on board.

The indie hood drama, written and produced by Lynn Stoltz and near to signing a director, features Collins as a young basketball phenom returning to an embattled inner-city ghetto after two gunshots cut short his dream of an NBA career.

"This film embodies what we're trying to do with Death Row, to tell human stories that don't always have happy endings, and that allow us to learn from violence and disenfranchised lives, but not glorify it," Lavi said.

WIDEawake Entertainment Group, Lavi's Toronto-based shingle, acquired Death Row Records out of bankruptcy in January for $18 million.

Death Row Films will tap the rap label's catalog to score "Sons 2 the Grave," before moving on to other projects.

"We're looking at film properties that relate to "Boyz n the Hood"-type stories, and to power the films with Death Row music," Lavi said.

She added the Death Row library, which includes iconic songs and albums by Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Danny Boy, is barely exploited.

"We're sitting here with 10,000 masters, of which only 10%-15% have been released to the public," she said.

Death Row Records is licensing its songs to film, TV, video game and advertising producers, including to EA Games, and the "CSI" and "Cold Case" TV series.

Music publisher Evergreen Copyrights is providing worldwide administration for the rap label.

And Death Row Records is also to rerelease on Sept. 1 Dr. Dre's "The Chronic." "The Chronic Re-lit" collectors disc will feature 16 original songs and seven new tunes, and unreleased video of Dre and other artists.

Death Row is also readying boxed sets of unreleased master recordings for the holiday season.

[2euce 7even]

Short Interview With Redrum aka Redrum 781 Of Damu Ridas/Death Row:

How Did It Happen That You And Bloody Mary Didn´t Release Somethin´ On Death Row?

1) BECAUSE SUGE KNIGHT HAD US ON HOLD SO WE COULDNT COME OUT.

Who Was On Your Death Row Album?

2) A LOT OF THE PRODUCERS,THE RAPPERS WERE OUT FOR SELF,I BROUGHT IN MY OWN SPITTERS

What´s Up Wit Lil Hawk aka Lil Hawksta From Krenshaw Mafia?

3) THATS MY DOG,BUT I HAVE'NT TALKED TO HIM SINCE I WAS ALMOST ASSASSINATED AT MY HOME

Was You Part Of Young Soldierz?

4)NO PART,JUST DID VERSES THATS ALL. MY CREW WAS / IS the California Kennel Gang

What´s Up With Green Eyez, G-Len, Who Was Rapping As "O.G"?

5)GREEN EYES WENT GOSPEL,G-LEN A PIMP,DONT KNOW BOUT LiLi.....NOBODY WAS O.G AT THE TIME,I STILL CALL MYSELF AN O.Y.G.

Who You Fu*k Wit In The Industry, What U Bumpin?

6)MY BROTHER CK, BIG WY,DOG,DOCK B,BIG FREEZE,G-LUV,SQUEAK RU,KAM,ROSCOE,SLIP CAPONE AND A FEW OTHERS...AINT FEELIN OF KICKIN IT WITH NO INDUSTRY BLOOD RAPPERS......

Will U Release The Death Row Material You Have, Who Did The Beats?

7)NAH NOT REALLY,THEY WERENT MIXED,MY NIGGAS I HAND PICKED RAPPED ON IT,THE DEATH ROW PRODUCERS DID THE BEATS,BUT NOT DAZ
Givin´Gangsta Props On "Deep In Tha Game" Off "2 Gangsta 4 Radio II" Project, Dedicated 2 Pac And His Homie "Marvin"..

8)UMM.......I GOTTA BETTER VERSION OF THAT SONG. THE ONE THATS PUT IS SHITTY QUALITY.

[Chad Vader]

213 - St. Ides EP
http://deathrowtapes.blogspot.com/2009/08/213-st-ides-ep.html

Here's a promo EP that was released from St. Ides with the group 213. If you ain't know 213 is comprised of Snoop, Warren G, and Nate Dogg. This some extra special rare shit. Shout out to my boy Tha Jsta of Back 2 Da OG for posting this on his blog.


http://rs704.rapidshare.com/files/271525663/1994_--_St._Ides_94__Promo_Cassette_.rar

Code: [Select]

01. St. Ides In The LBC02. When We Sippin On The Brew03. Drank Anthem04. Dogg Food & Drank


[Chad Vader]

http://deathrowtapes.blogspot.com/2009/11/nipsey-hussle-death-row-demo.html

Nipsey Hussle - Death Row Demo
Shoutout to NSPZ for hookin me up with this muffukin lank. I had no clue Nipsey Hu$$le was tryin to get signed to Death Row. I guess every striving West coast artist if desperate enough, would try to get signed. It woulda been cool to see this shit pop off tho. Could you imagine him, Crook, and Eastwood on the cover of Vibe as the future. Ha! Drop some info on this tape in the comments folks. I wanna know sum more shit about dis.


http://rapidshare.com/files/305767288/Nipsey_Hussle_-_Death_Row_Demo.rar

Code: [Select]

01. Back To The Crib
02. Nipsey's Story
03. Slauson Raised
04. Hustlin'
05. If I Fall Off
06. Cali
07. On Tha Block


[2euce 7even]

thanks guys.i lost mine long tzime ago.

can some1 hook me up with k-9 demo that got leaked yrs. ago?

[2euce 7even]

can some1 hook me up with k-9 demo that got leaked yrs. ago?

[2euce 7even]

Paradise

I met Suge through DOC and Rodney G when I went to LA for a visit. Suge asked me to rap for him and he wanted to sign me. The label co was under a different name then and Tom Kline was footing the bill. When Suge finally started his own label with guidance from Dick Griffey, there was so much personal drama going on that i was originally signed to Epic. No I did not release anything under them bcz Suge always found a way to muck up yhings for me. He let me do a few soundtracks to pacify me but didnt really want an album released bcz he felt I would blow up and leave that ass. The problem with that is I left anyway because I got tired of having fist fights with an insecure 325 6 foot 3 inch monster. Rythm D and Unknown produced Down Wit My Nigga and Snoop and 3 2 from the convicts wrote it. There is a whole lot to the madness that I dont have time to explain but there will hopefully be a book soon that will let everyone the 4 real 4 real about Suge and Death Row.I have enough songs that are in the vault to make an album or two.......some of my favorite tracks were written by kurupt and snoop and produced by daz, erotic d, and some by unknown. i was never signed with death row i was signed to some bullshit secondary co suge came up with. Devotion was recorded for the soundtrack. Im not sure what happened to the producer but I enjoyed working with him. There was also a producer name Curtis who was under louis burrell i really liked working with also. Yes i met PAC big deal. He wasnt what everyone thought he was. My songs were produced by non dr producers bcz i wasnt on dr and they thought lady of rage was so great but her album was crap. I know my shit would have blown up if released. i had some dope songs. when i left LA i really wanted to continue with music but i never hooked up with anyone in tx that could make it happen. i am a show me type person and they just talked a good game.actually i dont ever remember recording a song titled the other woman,mama told me, or trouble in paradise. backyard party is actually blackyard party and yes i remember the good ol days. the others i guess are made up names. tracks mentioned written by riddler and produced by curtis williams aka captn curt. I had many more songs produced by daz, unknown, erotic d, dj quick and others with tracks written by snoop, kurupt, erotic d, cpo, 2nd to none, myself and others. i dont know what happened to those tracks if they are not in the vault. my favorites were clips and gats, niggas are bitches too. i had lots of songs. i dont have anything against rage or pac. i just believe that they gave her the chance that i should have been given. i believe i would have sold a lot more records than she did. pac was quiet and reserved when he was alone but in front of people and with a posse he talked a lot of shit. i just feel like if u gangsta u will keep it real at all times. i remember before pac was ever on dr we went to one of the music award shows. i sent for one of my girls from tx to come go with me. after the awards we were all back stage and pac was running his mouth and walking backward bumping into my friend and didnt say anything so i went off. he was about to say something back until suge walked over to see what was going on then he apologized. suge is 6 feet 3 inches and if i will fight suge being 5 feet 4 and 128 how is a man gonna eat cheese. anyway on to something else, i dont know why the have dr dre associated with anything i have ever done. he did not remix dwmn and the song was not written by rythm d and unknown. it was produced by them and written by three two and snoop. when i was down with the row the only artist around was snoop, daz, kurupt, jewell, rage, miss allen, erotic d and dj jonezy j, sean barney thomas, emmage, danny boy, oftb, and a few others. the other names u mentioned above must have been after me or were never around.

[Chad Vader]

http://imdb.com/title/tt0109035/soundtrack

"Pain"
Performed by Tupac Shakur (as 2Pac) featuring Stretch
Written by Tupac Shakur (as T. Shakur) & Stretch (as R. Walker) Courtesy of Interscope Records
Contains a sample from "Living Inside Your Love" Composed by Dave Grusin (as D. Grusin), Earl Klugh (as E. Klugh) Performed by Earl Klugh

"Deeper" (Lord G.? Had Another Song? I Thought He Was One Of The One-Song-Artists On Death Row)
Performed by Lord G.
Written by Mknoto Fields

all appears on the
Warren G & Nate Dogg; Regulate single that also features the "Jammin remix"
+ Pain; 2pac and Lord mediafire

or;

its called
Warren G & Nate Dogg; Regulate; "jammin remix" zshare
 ... thats at least what my copy is called.

I came over a alternate version today;

Warren G & Nate Dogg: Regulate (Original Version) (UNRELEASED) (1994) mediafire


The first time I heard the CD version of Regulate, I had a feeling it wasn't the original version, and I was right.
For whatever reason, the original explicit version did not get pressed to the CD. It's a shame because in my opinion, the original is much better than the remake.
I also got word that Do You See, the one pressed on CD and single, is also not the original.
I have not heard the original, but it's just something to think about.


Jacked from Tha Jsta

[Chad Vader]

Lady of Rage ft. Kurupt - Midnight Hour

on a side note, I have a hard time believing this is a Dre production

An old Lady Of Rage interview,talks about tracks that didn't get released;
       Here's a little Rage interview I found, she talks about a couple of tracks that’s unreleased and not leaked as far as I know (correct me if I’m wrong).
The originally slated title for the album; ‘Eargasms’ was pretty dope too. She goes in detail about the tracks in the interview.
       Tracks that she’s talks about:
-‘Introducing The Eargasm’
-‘Ride On The Eargasm’
-‘Rollin’ On The River’
-‘Late In The Midnight Hour’

Lady Of Rage interview in Hip Hop Connection 1994.
    While Rage rightfullyclaims full credit her own eyecathing hairdo, it is actually Dre 100 per cent responsible for the equally clever title to her forthcoming debut album, ‘Eargasms’.
      “When he first came up with that title I didn’t like it at all. I was like ‘Ugh, what does that mean?’,” she laughs. “But when it grew on me, after he explained how the concept fitted into the ‘Introducing The Eargasm’ and ‘Ride On The Eargasm’ tracks. It suddenly all became clear and generally the album will consist of what you’ve hears thus far – things that people can relate to. There’ll be a lotta sexual stuff because that’s a part of life I know about…. And I just look at like if more people made love while listening to music then everybody’d be a lit more relaxed. So `Eargasms` is really just a getaway. Something that’s good to the ear. When you hear it you’ll release your tensions and get it all outta your system.”
        One of the tracks that reveals a different side to Rage’s talent and personality bears the unusual title of ‘Rollin’ On The River’.
        It’s just a song I particularly like – a sexual song, but not explicit or nothing like that,” she enthuses. “It’s real discreet, real classy, and dealing with me seeing the guy from afar. I’m admiring him and thinking in my mind ‘Oh, what would I do with him?’. The ‘River’ actually signifies the bed. I think that’s a catchy title and something that people can relate to. I mean, it’s different from the Rage that everybody’s heard before. But then I am a lady and I do have the that side in me that desires a man. I’m not some rough, unaffectionate-type person.”
       One of the album’s more controversial moments will defiantly prove to be *Late In The Midnight Hour’, a song dealing openly with the ‘hush-hush’ topic of mastrubation. Rage pauses to stifle an embarrassed giggle . “Well the fact is people do it! There’s nothing wrong with it – and I fell that if somebody brings it out to the light to the light then people might deal with it more! You know, it’s like the forbidden subject, even in Hip hop which has covered all kinds of other taboos. The first coupla verses are making fun of it and are discreet towards the guys. Then  for the third verse – which isn’t even completed yet – I was gonna get into the girls and say, you know, ‘It’s alright if you do, it’s actually the safest thing right now’. So it’s like at first I’m making fun in order to break the ice, and then in the end just telling everyone, ‘If that’s what you do then that’s fine’.”

http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/theladyofrage/

Dubcnn:
So when you hooked up with Death Row, your album was supposed to come after The Chronic.
I believe you had a solo album ready called "Eargasm", is that correct?

Yes, it was gonna be called "Eargasm".


Dubcnn:
What happened there?

Snoop's popularity. They went with Snoop. I don't know if this was how it was supposed to go initially or not, but I know when I came, they told me they were gonna do Dre's album, and my album was gonna be next. After "The Chronic" came out, Snoop blew up, so they was like "Snoop's album is gonna be next, and your album is gonna be after his." It just kept getting pushed back, and I don't know what the reasoning was behind that. But that's how it was. I don't know if it was a female thing, a ego thing, or what, but it just didn't happen when it should have happened.


Dubcnn:
Some of the names of songs that were supposed to be on the album had come out I think. There was supposed to be a song called "Rolling On The River"?

Yeah! It was kind of like a sexual song, how I see this guy, and he just fits the bill of everything that I wanted, his physical appearance, and I just imagine me and him in a sexual way. I was gonna call it "Rolling On The River".


Dubcnn:
What about "Introduction To The Eargasm"?

I don't know remember that one.


Dubcnn:
How about "Ride On The Eargasm"?

I don't have a clue!



Dubcnn:
"Late In The Midnight Hour"?

"Late In The Midnight Hour" was about masturbation!



Dubcnn:
These are songs that people on the forum asked me to ask you about, so...

"Butter Scotch", did anybody ask you about that?


Dubcnn:
Nah..

"Butter Scotch" was gonna be about oral sex, and uhh... yeah! So before Lil Kim and all that... But mine wasn't as explicit. It was gonna be in good taste.


Dubcnn:
Tell us about the song "It's On", which you had with Snoop!

It's On?


Dubcnn:
Yeah, from like '92.

I think that was a remix for "Deep Cover".


Dubcnn:
Yeah I think it was supposed to be on the "Deep Cover" soundtrack.

Yeah I don't know what happened with that... but it was a cool song!
A lot of songs that we did, was just us at the studio, high, the beat is banging, okay, let's do what we do!
Dr. Dre was basically the overseer, and if he didn't feel that it had the potential to do big things, then it didn't make it!
But you know, it sounded good to me, it sounded good to Snoop! Maybe he just didn't feel it cut it at the time..


Dubcnn:
So when is the last time you heard the song?

Shit... when I did it?


Dubcnn:
I think I might have it right here, let me see. *plays "It's On"*

Wooooooow! I gotta get that! Wooow! Okay!! It's on!! *raps along* Yeah! That was a while ago...

[Chad Vader]

Lake - Lake's Home: Death Row Is Back!!!
http://deathrowtapes.blogspot.com/2010/01/lake-lakes-home-death-row-is-back.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/332989986/Lakey-Lake_s_Home__Death_Row_Is_Back_-2006.rar

Code: [Select]

1. Bank Roll (Snippet)
2. 30/30 feat. Uniqua Star
3. The Hate U Love feat. Artillary
4. Real Recognize Real feat. Army J
5. Walk Through Heaven
6. Coming Through The Hood feat. Jadakiss (Snippet)
7. Lil' Niggaz feat. Chunk from Uno Dos
8. Death Row Is Back
9. Deep Cover 2006
10. New York Made feat. Ach (Snippet)
11. Black Gotti (Pt. 2)
12. Dirty New York feat. Cormega, Fat Joe
13. Swaggin' (Snippet)
14. Somebody Got Shot
15. It's A Gangsta Thang
16. One Never Knows feat. Nas
17. Official Queens Nigga
18. No Homo
19. Anniversary feat. Steve O
20. Death Row Anthem feat. Army J
21. Outro


[2euce 7even]

Lake - Lake's Home: Death Row Is Back!!!
http://deathrowtapes.blogspot.com/2010/01/lake-lakes-home-death-row-is-back.html

http://rapidshare.com/files/332989986/Lakey-Lake_s_Home__Death_Row_Is_Back_-2006.rar

Code: [Select]

1. Bank Roll (Snippet)
2. 30/30 feat. Uniqua Star
3. The Hate U Love feat. Artillary
4. Real Recognize Real feat. Army J
5. Walk Through Heaven
6. Coming Through The Hood feat. Jadakiss (Snippet)
7. Lil' Niggaz feat. Chunk from Uno Dos
8. Death Row Is Back
9. Deep Cover 2006
10. New York Made feat. Ach (Snippet)
11. Black Gotti (Pt. 2)
12. Dirty New York feat. Cormega, Fat Joe
13. Swaggin' (Snippet)
14. Somebody Got Shot
15. It's A Gangsta Thang
16. One Never Knows feat. Nas
17. Official Queens Nigga
18. No Homo
19. Anniversary feat. Steve O
20. Death Row Anthem feat. Army J
21. Outro


Link Iz Dead.

Raptalk.Net: We have Chocolate and DJ Silk right here, two legendary producers. They are collectively known as The Ginuwin Draftz. Tell us about the “Ginuwin Draftz” name the two of you have come up with.

 

DJ Silk: The Ginuwin Draftz stands for actually being original. We’re back at it. That’s how I look at it.

 

Raptalk.Net: Ok.  Let’s start off with you Chocolate; let’s read off the resume in case there sleeping. You’ve produced for Snoop Dogg, Vanilla Ice, Spice 1, Big Mike, 3-2, Jayo Felony, RBX, Knoc-turn’al, 40 Glocc, Kurupt, Kokane and so many more. Do you have a favorite track that you’ve produced in your career?

 

Chocolate: My history is pretty far but I’ve never had a favorite track that I liked more than others. There are a couple of tunes that have hit me in the heart but really hard to pick just one; I can’t even say. Everything has been kind of pleasant to me. I can’t really say that. I can say that everything has been cool. I’ve had joints that went unreleased that I really liked. It’s kind of hard to say. I haven’t really thought about that. I’ve had groups that I produced that had hot records that had deals and their records never came out that were great records.

 

Raptalk.Net: Tell us about some of those then.

 

Chocolate: I had a group that Sway who is on MTV now, had a record out called “This or That” with DJ Revolution. I had a group named Dirty Unit and he actually discovered them. Somebody brought them to me and I liked them and got them a deal. We did an album that was great and being young artists, I kind of got removed out of the deal after the deal got done. They were no longer with my company and had to go to the majors in order for the deal to go. With them dudes being in a position that they needed bread and some of their girls were pregnant, you know how that goes. I had to let them do what they do and move out the way. When I moved out of the way, all there business went bad and the record never came out. But that was a great record with Dirty Unit and they were out of Pasadena. I had another group called Level 6 that I had signed to Jive Records. They had a single called “Who be the Dopest” that started taking off and that was a great record. The album was called “Universally Yours” and it was Peter Parker and Sweets.  We did a great record and that record never came out. There have been a lot of records that I’ve done that never came out that I thought were great records.

 

Raptalk.Net: Silk, you’ve produced for E-40, Jayo Felony and so many more. Do you have a favorite track that you’ve produced in your career?

 

DJ Silk: It’s kind of hard. I would say “Hotter than Fish Grease” for Jayo Felony. That’s probably my favorite. It was about the time that I did it. I was just happy to have a second hit after the first one. To do it again felt great. I was happy to be all over America and hear something else other than the first one. It showed me it wasn’t a fluke because I thought it was a fluke at first.

 

Raptalk.Net: How do you look back on the work you did on “What’Cha Gonna Do” for Jayo Felony?

 

DJ Silk: I look back at it now like it was the past but that’s why I’m here and what I’m doing right now. It was the right stepping stone that I had to take. I respect Def Jam for doing what they did to put me in those ears, and helping me out a lot with publicizing the record because that’s not the first record I ever did. I did records way before that. “What’Cha Gonna Do” was my first hit though.

 

Raptalk.Net: Speaking of you doing records way before that, do you think “Flamboastin” for E-40 could have done more?

 

DJ Silk: It could have probably been a second single or something. The first single was “Behind the Gates” with Ice Cube but at that time Baby from Cash Money was very popular; I think they should have gone with that. That should have put more motion into actually making that a second single. I think it would have helped the record out a whole lot. I was happy enough to do a song with them at that time.

 

Raptalk.Net: How did you get your start in producing?

 

Chocolate: Oh man. I had influences. Being around The D.O.C., he actually influenced me to really move on it. He told me I could eat from this. He was only 15 years old when he showed me the right equipment to get. He had already been around the scene. I was kind of fresh still. I would always buy the stuff that people who didn’t know about music would tell me to get. I would buy wrong equipment. D.O.C. would tell me nah, you need this, the P-12, not this P-12 but you need this other P-12. Now this is way before the sp12000 came out. He showed me the right equipment to get and all that stuff back in the day. From there, it went from me being mainly in the rapping until I got bored with it. That’s when I jumped into making music because at that time it was kind of hard to get beats from people. I had to go over records and put instrumentals over a cassette player and rap over that. It just went from that to making music. I was like damn; I’ll make my own beats. I started by doing it like that.

 

DJ Silk: That’s a long story. I’ve been producing since about 1986, literally. I started when I was in the 8th grade. I was also a DJ at that time. When I got my first 1200, I was in the 7th or 8th grade and it only had one turn table and I had wait until my birthday or Christmas to get another one (laughs). And I was the DJ at parties all of the time. I worked at a night club in high school. Unlike the kids that that do what they have to do today, my parents trusted me enough to go to night clubs at 10:30pm and coming back at 3:00am on school nights. I’m a product of that.

 

Raptalk.Net: So would you attest your success to the fact that your parents trusted you and allowed you to do that?

 

DJ Silk: Oh yeah, a lot. I learned stuff in those early years from being able to be around people that I wasn’t probably supposed to be around in my age group. Chocolate used to have me in the 21 and over clubs around super stars. I heard “Nuthin’ but a G Thang” when I was about 18 or 19 and when they got done doing “Nuthin’ but a G Thang”, they gave a copy to Chocolate and I heard it before it even hit. I saw The D.O.C. with the first Death Row jacket. I was blessed to see a lot of artists at that time in their prime. I got the advice from them. I saw CPO Boss Hogg from the “All Eyez On Me” album, B-O-X, D.O.C., Chocolate, Above the Law, Kokane – all of them, I listened to them when I was younger and got to see most of the Ruthless and early Death Row camp – those are the people I got to see. And then I did Lil’ Half-Dead’s first album and that was my breakthrough as far as doing a record on a major. That helped me a lot. Just being exposed to a lot of stuff I wasn’t supposed to be helped. Plus Chocolate showed me cheques to what you can make in this game. I didn’t know what you could make as far as money in this game. I had a better idea of what they had because for them to actually do that and earn that, to be able to show me that, I saw them making a lot of money and living a good life style out of what you actually like doing. I got lucky.

 

Raptalk.Net: Chocolate, what made you want to stop rapping and stick to the beats?

 

Chocolate: My influences. It’s kind of hard because I go back to when my favorite producers; I used to read the labels in the back of albums, all the credits. Rap records back then was like, DJ Howie T was one of my favorites that I would always look on the back of hot records when it would be a hot record; I would always look for his signature to see if he did the particular joint. There were a couple of guys who influenced me to get where I wanted to go. It got to the point where the rap part just faded with me. I got bored with the rap part. I think I was good at it, but I wasn’t great at it. It makes a difference where you have to draw the line and divide the two. I went with my music side which I think I’m better at.

 

 

Raptalk.Net: Silk, how did you meet Chocolate and was there instant chemistry on the production side?

 

DJ Silk: Oh yeah. I met Chocolate when I was about 15. He introduced me to a lot of the stuff in the game. He gave me my first equipment which was a sp1200 that came from Dr. Dre at that time. That’s what [Dr.] Dre did the first few NWA albums on. It was kind of a hand me down product.  It blew and I couldn’t afford to get it fixed in those years. Fixing a sampler of a sp1200 at that time was like $2,700 to actually repair it. I was about 17 years old and didn’t have that kind of money to spend at the shop. It helped me get the records that I did do in those years; I wish I still had it.

 

Raptalk.Net: Is it tough to share production with Chocolate? Did you ever argue about the direction of the beat or music?

 

DJ Silk: Nah, because me and Chocolate think the same. We don’t really argue about anything. Argue about production? Nah. If he feels a beat should go a certain way, then he will do it that way; and then I’ll go with it the way I see it. Will then listen to both of them and see which one is the right one.

 

Raptalk.Net: Chocolate, with you bringing up The D.O.C., it’s clear you guys came up together and influenced each other. Do yourself and The D.O.C. ever just kick back and reminisce on the life you’ve created for yourselves, and the opportunities that became available?

 

Chocolate: Oh yeah. We laugh at it. Actually, when he was with Eazy [E} back in the day, I was actually living with The D.O.C. when he had his house on the gore. I was around but I was quiet. I would just sit at the pad and make music then. I don’t know how to put it, but we were together every day. Every day that you saw The D.O.C., you saw me. Now when we see each other it’s kind of funny because we’ve gone so far from where we started at. We never thought it would get this far, you know what I mean?

 

Raptalk.Net: Of course.

 

Chocolate: We’re twenty-something years in now together. My hit song, my first hit song which I did, I was still living with The D.O.C. and he was taking care of me when my hit song hit, which was “Ice Ice Baby.” The change just happened over night. I don’t know, it’s like God put wings over the both of us and his career took off and not even a good year and I was right behind him with a hit song that I had did for Vanilla Ice. We just got blessed around the same time. I was around from the beginning of everything that he had started from when his name was The Channel 21 Kid all the way up until he became The D.O.C. now. I was one of the first ones to see what his first album cover looked like. I was standing with him when his FedEx came into Texas and he opened it up, we both looked at the cover together. He didn’t even know what the cover looked like before me. We go that far back. It’s crazy that we sit back now and look at it.

 

It’s like that with Slim [Tha Mobster]. With Slim being my nephew, Slim has known The D.O.C. since he was like seven years old. It’s crazy to him now to see that that’s the little kid that used to sit up under us when we used to try and write songs back in the early to mid 80s. We look at Slim -I don’t know, have you ever heard Slim?

 

Raptalk.Net: Yeah I have.

 

Chocolate: Ok so, that says a lot. D.O.C. was a huge influence to him. We look at it now and its years later but God has just been good to us. There is no other way to look at that. We’ve been truly blessed to be doing what we’ve been doing. We reminisce now to where we laugh at it and we’re like wow, this shit is crazy. Twenty years into the game is a long time. And to continue making records in the position we’re in now, you can’t think of anybody else to work with better than a Dr. Dre (laughs). It’s crazy. The excitement of all of it is surreal.  But it is what it is. We’re here now at the studio working. We gotta’ do what we gotta’ do to try and make things a lot better for us all.

 

Raptalk.Net: You just touched on a few of my talking points that we’re certainly going to get into a bit later. First off, being so close to the D.O.C. with growing up with him and everything, what was initial reaction like when you had received word of the accident?

 

Chocolate: A buddy of mine who is Rodney G. called me and he was like man, you’re not even gonna’ believe this. I was like what happened? And he said D.O.C. was in a car accident. At that time, it almost took every breathe out of me because he was at the top of his game. He was about to be the biggest rapper in the world at that time. When it hit me, it hit me hard. It wasn’t like it took a few seconds or anything; it really hit me hard then. I was living out of state and he was in California. I came back here after the accident to come and see him. My brother who was in Northern California was here, when he got the news he drove immediately down. It was crazy because it didn’t seem like it had happened. It was like I started dreaming this on my way to California like there was no way this could happen to this man, that he would have a car accident. With him losing his voice was what the weirdest thing was really. I’ve seen him go through a lot of therapy to get him together and he worked hard to try to get himself right. I was living with him that whole entire time that he was really trying to get himself together. If anybody could give his voice back and restore it, that brother deserves it. Wow, that’s crazy. When MTV did “Tragedy of a Lyricist”, they did a whole hour segment that was just me and him that whole hour with Fab Five Freddy. Trust me, that’s like my brother.

 

DJ Silk: I was hurt. I was a little kid running around so I wasn’t there literally. I was hurt when it came to it. I was DJ’ing at a party in the I.E. area; I think it was a Cal State-San Bernardino party. I was the DJ there and I was one of the first ones to play The D.O.C.’s record out here. I introduced that record to a lot of people that didn’t know out here. That’s when DJ’s could actually control what was going on, which is something DJ’s don’t do anymore. It hurt us as far as the whole culture. It hurt just like the day I found out Scott La Rock died; put it that way. He died when I was in the 8th grade. It hurt that bad to have a west coast artist…you know he’s from Texas, but to have a west coast representative artist lose his voice? That was like losing a [Los Angeles] Lakers championship game, losing a true champ. And not really losing it because D.O.C. has written a lot of good stuff; we just lost the presence of his voice.

 

Raptalk.Net: What do you think of the process he’s going through now to try and regain his original voice back twenty years later?

 

Chocolate: (Laughs) you know that’s crazy, my mom had told me he went over and had dinner with her about a month ago. He was telling her that he was about to go and have surgery. I’m hoping that could happen. If that could happen, I think the west coast would really change. D.O.C. right to this day is one of the best lyricists in my book.

 

Raptalk.Net: Hell yeah.

 

Chocolate: That’s my opinion. If you listen to “No One Can Do It Better” right now, that came out in 1989 and that record sounds like he just recorded it in 2009. That’s how ahead of his time he was. Listen to that record. Take time one day and listen to that record.

 

Raptalk.Net: Oh I do.

 

Chocolate: Find me one flaw in it. Does he sound ahead of his time?

 

Raptalk.Net: Yeah. It’s a classic, no doubt.

 

Chocolate: (Laughs) you know what I mean? It’s an undated record. That record is crazy.

 

Raptalk.Net: That’s when you know an album is a classic – when you can play it twenty years later and it’s still just as good as it was when it came out. I wasn’t even born when it came out.

 

 Chocolate: Really? How old are you man?

 

Raptalk.Net: I’m 19.

 

Chocolate: Ok, that’s a blessing. You really get into your hip-hop thing then.

 

Raptalk.Net: Oh yeah.

 

Chocolate: Ok, that’s good. I see that you do pretty good research.

 

Raptalk.Net: I appreciate that.

 

Chocolate: That’s part of it what you do. When you do an interview, it’s good for you to ask questions and investigate.

 

Raptalk.Net: I always do.

 

Chocolate: You know what I mean? You’re on point. I’m just letting you know that is cool. Sometimes people ask questions that have been addressed too many times. People don’t go research and investigate, check it out. They still stick with the old stuff. I’m with that. Let’s do it, what you talking about?

 

Raptalk.Net: Let’s get into “Ice Ice Baby.” I know this is one of those situations that you’ve been asked about and you’ve cleared it up, but there still seems to be some wrong information floating around. It claims that you had come out at the time and claimed you wrote it without getting credit. Tell us about that.

 

Chocolate: It wasn’t that I didn’t get credit for it. See, that’s what I said people didn’t really do research to find out what happened. What happened with that was I did “Ice Ice Baby” and that song surfaced 2 ½ years after it was done. I made a phone call to Suge [Knight] because he was my manager at the time. He makes a phone to call to his attorneys and the attorneys make a call to Vanilla Ice’s people and we get the paperwork straight. We had no argument over “Ice Ice Baby” and that’s what people didn’t know. The whole argument came when it came time for me to do the “To the Extreme” album. What happened was that I got paid to do four songs for that record. I went up and flew from L.A. to Dallas and worked on four songs but ended up doing nine for him. But I was only under contract to do four. When the record got released, he put those other five songs on the album and didn’t credit me. So I went and sued for “Dancin”, “Go Ill”, “It’s a Party”, “Life’s a Fantasy”, all those songs. I sued for them. That’s what the whole argument was about. People thought the argument was about “Ice Ice Baby” and that was never the case. I got all my credits for that. I never had an argument for “Ice Ice Baby.” It was about the other songs I did for the record that he put on the record and put written and produced by Vanilla Ice. We never had a problem over “Ice Ice Baby.” That’s why I said a lot of people don’t do research. That’s straight out the horse’s mouth partner.

 

Raptalk.Net: I feel you. You lived with The D.O.C. and everything, so what were the days like around Jerry Heller?

 

Chocolate: I didn’t spend time around Jerry [Heller] until after I had moved out with D.O.C. and got my own place. This is after “Ice Ice Baby” blew up and I finally got paid and got money and I ended up getting me a home and moved out of the D.O.C.’s place. I didn’t deal with Jerry [Heller] until I was producing for Eazy-E over at Ruthless. That’s when I had to deal with Jerry. It was all strictly business and I never ever dealt with Jerry on any personal shit. It was all about the artists I was working with over at Ruthless. That was that. I never had a problem with Jerry. He never did…well; I can’t say he never did some shit. He only did one thing to me that I thought was pretty shitty. He booked me into the studio with two different artists. He had told me to lie to the other group on some bullshit. He wanted me to be prepared for a lie that I couldn’t tell to the artists I was dealing with. He tried to book me into the sessions and didn’t pay for one and had one of the groups sitting there waiting on me and they think I’m supposed to be there. I’m over at another studio doing work that I’m being paid for. And they end up getting mad at me thinking I left them hanging, but in actuality, Jerry never paid for that studio time. So, he put me in one bad position only. That’s the truth. Other than that, I never dealt with Jerry. I dealt with Eazy [E] during that whole time.

 

Raptalk.Net: And what was it like dealing with Eazy?

 

Chocolate: Cool. I never had a problem with him. He paid me on time. People used to say crazy shit. I was like wow, that’s crazy because he always sent me straight to the attorney’s office and I picked up my cheque then and there. Right away I would walk over into Century City, go cash my cheque and go about my business. I never ever had a problem with him. We used to hang out but not really on a regular basis because I hung out with MC Ren back then more than any of them. I and [MC] Ren hung out a lot. We were cool.

 

Raptalk.Net: Do you still speak to Ren?

 

Chocolate: I haven’t talked to Ren in years. Ren had an artist which was CPO. CPO and I are very tight. CPO is my son’s Godfather. Me and the Boss Hogg stay in contact and still hang out to this very day. I haven’t talked to Ren in probably ten years.

 

Raptalk.Net: Wow.

 

Chocolate: I haven’t seen him either. I’m out and around.

 

Raptalk.Net: He came out with a new record.

 

Chocolate: That’s good and I would love to talk to Ren. That’s my boy. I would love to speak with him. That would be cool because that’s my boy.

 

Raptalk.Net: You said Suge was your manager. Was he really as bad as everyone portrays him as? There is no denying the Death Row dynasty but I think people try and look at the alleged negative things he did and they try to make that overlook what he built with Death Row. What was it like overall?

 

Chocolate: To me, the best way I could put it is that somebody could point the finger at a man and say “don’t trust that dude because that dude is fucked up, fuck him, don’t trust him because he’ll do this and that.” But if your relationship is entirely different with that person, then you can’t speak on it. If that person has never done any wrong to you, then you have nothing bad to say about that person. My situation isn’t to stand up and say he was fucked up or that he was cool. I just know that the business that I needed handled and getting my money, any situation that I had as far as being a producer or artist, he took care of my business and I never had a problem with him. He got his money and I got my money. When I wanted my release, I got my release without an argument and I continued my life. I never had a problem with him. I never had any threats, slaps or none of that shit. Never ever. It was business and I kept it moving. I started my own company back then and we had respect for what I wanted to go out there and do. He never gave me a problem. He did what he did but he never did that shit around me. You know what I’m saying? You can’t speak on shit you never witnessed.

 

Raptalk.Net: Being around the entire situation while making “The Chronic”, for you yourself personally, did you realize it was going to be such a classic record?

 

Chocolate: Oh yeah. He had the whole all-star squad. Everybody was young and hungry. You had the best producer and the best writer in the world. Come on now. From “Deep Cover”, I knew it was history. I remember back when Snoop [Dogg] used to kick his feet up against the wall and used to free style for hours in the backyard of Dre’s house. We would sit there and listen to him. I used to tell him “boy if you ever get heard the world is gonna’ love you” and there he is now. Time goes by and we reminisce about it now and go wow, this is crazy.  You look at in reality how everybody is actually a tree branch of a person that’s done something. It’s what it is.

 

Raptalk.Net: Did you see the fall of Death Row coming or did you think they’d continue to dominate?

 

Chocolate: Through all of the media, you know how that goes. A party is never gonna’ last forever. I knew one day that the party would be over if you know what I’m saying.  In other words, it’s all about the people who stay there with you and help you clean up the party. If you throw a big party and everyone is there to help you plan it, once it’s over with, only your true ones are gonna’ stay and help you clean up. Everyone that had helped you plan done left and got a bitch and walked out the front door and said they’d see you later. This is the dude who brings all the liqor and makes calls to bring the girls here; all of that shit. Once the party is over with, you have cigarette buts on your floor, drinks spilled and cups everywhere. Everyone went out the door and only your true ones stay to help you clean up. That’s how it goes. You also gotta’ treat your friends and party guests right. If you don’t, shit don’t go right.

 

Raptalk.Net: And Ronin Ro wrote an interesting book about Death Row. Have you read it?

 

Chocolate: Yeah, you’re talking about “Have Gun Will Travel?”

 

Raptalk.Net: Exactly.

 

Chocolate: Yeah, I’m in that book.

 

Raptalk.Net: That’s why I’m bringing it up. What I want to ask you is that, in your opinion was it well written and accurate? Do you feel it provided good insight for the fans?

 

Chocolate: I mean a lot of those situations I wasn’t around for so I couldn’t really say. A lot of those situations I was around though as well, and from what I’ve read, a lot of it was accurate and a lot of it was over-exaggerated. That’s the best way I could put it.

 

Raptalk.Net: You were always around and when Dr. Dre wanted to break away from Death Row and start his own thing with Aftermath, did you like the idea of that at the time?

 

Chocolate: I mean the only reason why I would say yeah was because me and Dre would always watch the fights together and hang out at the fight parties. It was never the music side on the time we would spend. Right now is the first time I’ve ever worked with or for Dre, out of all of these years. Yeah, when I branched off and did what I did as far as me producing for these other artists and being a producer and strictly sticking to my music, I got away from the whole scene of it, period. I was doing my own thing getting artists, making records, getting record deals and making money. I got a house and wasn’t trying to be the cat that got that first money and the next thing you know, I’m sitting on the streets trying to go hustle. I wanted to get out there and continue grinding and making my name to get a little something. I don’t know. Every man has to stand on his own feet. That was his [Dre] decision and I was there when he did the “Been There, Done That”, the first album. Shit, I was there listening to it and was proud of him. He left something that was big to go make something big. You can’t be mad at a man that wants to go create his own and stand on his own. I would say yeah, not that I was happy but I thought it was a good and smart move for him.

 

Raptalk.Net: Tell us about your nephew Slim Tha Mobster.

 

Chocolate: Beyond gifted. He’s humble, very humble. He’s also gangsta, no way around that. But he’s a humble cat and doesn’t start any shit. He’s definitely probably one of the best MC’s that you will hear in a very long time from these probably past ten years as far as new artists. He’s something to deal with.

 

DJ Silk: I’ve known Slim since he was about 13 years old. Everything I went through at a young age, he has seen. He was there hands on. He was good then. His path is pretty much the same as mine other than me being a producer and him being a rapper. He got to learn from the best and he has seen the best. He is groomed. He’s a born super star for real. I’ve worked with a lot of cats from Method Man, Redman, WC, Jayo Felony, E-40 and everybody else. I knew them when they grew up but I don’t know if they grew up like Slim. Slim is one of a kind. He’s kind of like the 20th century version of Jay-Z again, the re-birth. Jay-Z said “make another Hov?” Yeah, we made another Hov.  This dude raps from the brain and doesn’t free style. He doesn’t free style. He writes in his head. To see the stuff he comes up with is amazing. It’s been a long time since we sat down with him when we did music, and we approved or did not approve some of the things he was doing.

 

After a while, he just took it. We’re right behind him. We’re behind him. He’s the leader. He’s the Kobe Bryant right now. He‘s the cat that knows exactly what he’s doing and he was trained for it. He’s like [Floyd] Mayweather when he was little. He’s really that dude, from any coast. You have to love and respect him because of what he’s able to actually do. His swag is totally different from any other artist out there. I say it like that. His swagger is totally different. His word play is ridiculous. And it’s not like a Rakim word play like we had back in the days; he’s saying something. A lot of these guys don’t say anything too much and I won’t mention any names. They don’t really say anything; they just do a lot of flossing. Slim is not a gangster rapper even though he’s a gangster. He just speaks real. He doesn’t only talk about shooting people and selling dope. He has topics and he knows how to bring up your kids, he knows what to say to women and so on. He does those songs that will get the streets to like him and the women. There are not that many rappers out there like that.

 

Raptalk.Net: How have yourself, Dr. Dre and The D.O.C. groomed him?

 

Chocolate: He’s been around the game…

 

Raptalk.Net: He grew up around it.

 

Chocolate: That’s it. The only thing he actually really knows is nothing but music. He’s so groomed at this. Slim doesn’t write; he doesn’t pick up paper and pen.

 

Raptalk.Net: He goes in the booth and writes the songs in his head?

 

Chocolate: Right there, he writes his songs while standing over the board. He’ll stand over the board or find a corner and get in his little mood and he’ll write. He’ll go right to the booth and do a song. That’s how he gets down. He’s probably…it’s hard to explain, you’d have to see this cat work. I give him the top MC right now and ain’t nobody fucking with Slim Tha Mobster right now. That’s just point period.

 

Raptalk.Net: Is it true that he recently finalized some paperwork that has him signed to G-Unit/Shady/Aftermath/Interscope?

 

Chocolate: Paperwork has been done. It’s 100%, he’s signed. I’m not gonna’ speak on the deal though. I just rather not comment on the deal. It’s something for him to speak on and your gonna’ do an interview with him. I’m gonna’ hook that up and I’ll get that taken care of for you.

 

Raptalk.Net: Hell yeah. This is the big question right here. Do you think “Detox” will set up Slim just as “The Chronic” set up Snoop Dogg and “2001” set up Eminem?

 

DJ Silk: I think so. I think that’s the best thing that could happen to him. He’s had other things going on before that. He’s a go hard in the paint type of person. It’s good because he’s running with the music to be able to express what he’s feeling. He’s writing hell of songs. He is what the game is missing and I’m glad that he’s with us.

 

Chocolate: Yes. I think that Slim is groomed. Snoop [Dogg] was ready but you know if you’re cooking something and it’s almost perfect but it might need a little more seasoning? That’s how Snoop was. Snoop just needed a little seasoning and it wasn’t a lot. I’m looking at the difference in-between how that was with Dre then and its how it is with Slim now. Slim is just ready. He’s groomed and polished. He doesn’t need any training. He doesn’t have to do songs with Dre standing over his shoulder. He’s gonna’ do 2-3 songs in one night. If he works for 12 hours here with us, he’s gonna’ have 3-4 songs done. His work ethic is beyond incredible; beyond (laughs). And I don’t say it because he’s my nephew. What’s funny about it is, when he was locked up in prison, I was telling him then that when he comes home, I’m gonna’ get him in the studio and we’re gonna’ work because he was already dope. If he just put his mind to this, it’s gonna’ happen for him and he put his mind to it. All the people I was telling that thought I was just saying it because he’s my blood, my family. But no, I‘m telling you because he’s good at what he does.

 

Actually, it’s not just him, I have another nephew who is XV; I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of XV out of Wichita, Kansas?

 

Raptalk.Net: I haven’t

 

Chocolate: He’s blowing up right now. He’s doing the Hip-Hop Honor awards and he’s doing the Warren G segment. He’s on the show doing the Hip-Hop Honor awards and he’s doing “Regulate” and a couple of other joints that Warren G had. You know there doing Hip-Hop Honor awards for Def Jam. My nephew XV, when you see him that is my other brother’s son. He’s going through a transition right now. The last I knew, his deal was looking pretty good. It’s just ironic that he’s super close to where Slim is it from my understanding. And I don’t mean that by being with Aftermath or anything like that, but he’s dealing with…the last I knew, Jimmy Iovine was super heavily looking into him. I’m not gonna’ quote that he’s signed there already but he’s doing Hip-Hop Honor awards so he must have done something right (laughs). That’s XV and then I have another nephew Mike Phenom, he’s about to take off and another nephew named Ses Batta.  All four of them are dope but Slim is the reigning king. All of them are dope but it’s just they haven’t been around and groomed like Slim (laughs). That’s all it is. They are all talented but they haven’t been groomed like Slim.

 

Raptalk.Net: And what’s your involvement in “Detox” right now and what do you believe is the status of that record?

 

DJ Silk: Of course I’m Slim’s DJ as well as one of his producers, Chocolate’s partner. Our involvement is to do what we can actually. So far, we have one solid track on “Detox” which is ridiculous. I’m blessed and proud to actually have the talent to make it on “Detox.” There are a lot of guys that did a lot of work and didn’t make it on “Detox.” It was good work but Dre is a perfectionist. If it’s not ultimately dope shit, it’s not gonna’ go there. Whoever is doing records right now, when “Detox” drops, get in research mode because this dude is doing musical movies. It’s beyond a song now. He’s the Steven Spielberg of music. I truly and honestly believe, and I know that now. Dre plays all kinds of instruments. He doesn’t even need our help; put it that way. I’m blessed to at least have a few joints on there.

 

Chocolate: It’ll be hard for me to say how many joints Dre got done. Me and DJ Silk, we’re working right now trying to come up with more joints for the “Detox” album. We have, we know we made the record. We have a joint on “Detox” that is a hot joint and Dre did his thing on it. I think that the status of it, I couldn’t tell you. The man is a perfectionist. I do know that it is coming out though (laughs).

 

Raptalk.Net: Where are you sonically taking the production on the one track that you know made it for sure?

 

DJ Silk: On that particular joint, I would tell you the title but there are a lot of funny things with leaks and hackers going on right now. It’s a good record, we know we have at least one solid joint on the “Detox” album. If I hear anything new from Dre confirming we have more records, will link up and do another interview or update. You guys will hear it soon. For me, Dre lets us do what we do best. I don’t know for sure, but Dre doesn’t like people trying to be like him. You have those producers who try to produce tracks of something he may possibly conjure up. They don’t even know what level he is on right now. Anything they can come up with is something they heard way back in the day. Dre loves us for what we do now; for what we’re groomed to do. He likes us to be ourselves. The whole record is live. It’s actually played. You won’t hear too many real samples on the record. That’s why I said he’s making musical movies. It’s like an orchestra playing. It’s like having Mozart in there with ?uestlove.

 

Raptalk.Net: Silk & Chocolate have a record on “Detox.” Chocolate, you read my D.O.C. interview “Detox & Surgery” and even left us a nice comment on the page. D.O.C. said in that interview that he thinks the album would have been done in November.

 

Chocolate: I mean, Dre has been working hard on this record. His mind is so genius. I’ve watched him work and I’m like wow, this dude will play anything you put in front of him. He doesn’t…how could I put it? Dre is like a real maestro. He leads you to the right notes and to the right placements and shit. When you hear certain shit and don’t know where to place it, Dre knows where to place it at. He’s just a perfectionist so you can’t really say where he’s at on his record and I couldn’t tell you. I know that we’re still working. He’s done us good. Since we’ve been working on this record, we’ve been out of town to get a change of environment and worked in other states and cities. He’s done us right just to get a different feel and vibe in order to make that music that you wouldn’t have thought about just by sitting in that same place all the time. You need a different view sometimes. Dre is probably, I couldn’t tell you how many songs he has done.

 

Raptalk.Net: We probably can’t even count that high.

 

Chocolate: He has so much hot shit. That’s why I say it’s crazy. You can’t place anything with what the man does. It has to be perfect. When they hear this mans record, the world is going to see why they waited so long for this record (laughs). That’s what I can truly tell you. When the world hears this record, they’re gonna’ be like ok, it was worth the fucking wait.

 

Raptalk.Net: When people talk about the “2001” team, people come up with the names Hittman, Scott Storch, Xzibit, Eminem, Knoc-turn’al, Mel-Man and people like that. If you had to name a few names in your mind that make up the “Detox” team, which names would you drop?

 

Chocolate: From me being around, I’ve seen a lot of them come in and do hot shit. But I don’t know what’s actually been cited to make the record. I don’t want to speak on names and they don’t make the record. I don’t know. A lot of records have leaked and Dre has put a real hold, he’s tightened down on everything. What he plays is what we hear. I’ve heard a lot of hot joints and seen a lot of different artists come in and do songs with him but I don’t know if they made the record. That is why I don’t want to say this joint with such and such. I’ve seen some big names come in.

 

Raptalk.Net: I respect that you can’t drop names so without dropping names, how do you think the “Detox” team or the people you’ve seen come in…

 

Chocolate: Heavy. They came in and did their thing very heavy. Dre is never gonna’ look away from his people. You know he’ll always keep Snoop [Dogg] somewhere in there. I know he has a joint with Snoop. He still keeps some of those around. Really with that, it’s hard to say. I don’t even know if that made the record. That is why I don’t want to be saying stuff. From what I’m looking at, the best way I could put it is everybody is still getting their chance to come and do what they’ve done before for him. He hasn’t turned his back on anyone. That’s the best way I could put it.

 

Raptalk.Net: What about “Relapse 2?” Have you done any work on that?

 

DJ Silk: We’re working right now to try and get a record on there. First things first is to actually making the record, and then will take care of everything else. Paperwork and all that isn’t hard to get done. We just want to create some music for Eminem that he loves and raps over it for the album. We know he would wreck one of our beats.

 

Raptalk.Net: Wow, there y’all have it – Chocolate & DJ Silk is on “Detox” & is working to get on “Relapse 2.” There are some rumors going around that Xzibit has been back in the camp really heavy and that Dre is doing his entire album. Have you gotten any word on that?

 

Chocolate: No. I know Xzibit came in and did a hook for Slim Tha Mobster. I don’t know the status of that though. I haven’t seen Xzibit in the studio. Actually, when we’re working with Slim, Dre is in another studio not far from us but we’re not in his sessions. We’re in a whole different studio doing our thing and Dre is doing his thing. We’ve always basically worked like that unless we’re in the same building with Dre. Most of the time we’re at a different building that is close. So I’m not in on all the sessions to see who has come in and out all the time. I come in on certain days and see certain people come in. it’s always short and brief and I’m back to doing what I’m doing at another studio working.

 

Raptalk.Net: Is it safe to say that Slim won’t drop until after “Detox?”

 

Chocolate: Slim has tons of songs (laughs). That’s kind of hard to say but I think it would be safe to say that it’ll be after “Detox.”

 

Raptalk.Net: It would make sense from a strategic standpoint.

 

Chocolate: He’s definitely the front man for the tour, the opening act. That’s the first act. I would say it’ll be safe to say he’ll be out after “Detox” and not before.

 

Raptalk.Net: Have you worked with Bishop Lamont and Stat Quo at all?

 

Chocolate: Never. I’ve known Bishop [Lamont] for years but we never got around to working together. I’ve been on Bishop since he was young, about 17 or 18 rapping at that time. I’ve known him for years, knew his brothers over there. I’ve never worked with him though.

 

Raptalk.Net: There are more rumors claiming that he was dropped. I know sometimes you’re not even in the same building, but have you seen him at all recently?

 

Chocolate: Nope. I haven’t seen him at all (laughs).

 

Raptalk.Net: What’s next up for The Genuine Drafts?

 

DJ Silk: Just hard work. We’re apart of Slim’s camp which is Gang Module/Aftermath. We could hold down the next 5 years. That’s all I hope for as long as I’ve been in the game. I’ve been in the game 17 years now and I hope we can control a couple of years with our music. We have to get it out there. I want to see Slim blow up because this is his first time. We hope we can hold on and get our music out there.  We hope everyone will like it and do what we do best. I hope people enjoy it.

 

Raptalk.Net: Y’all got the official word on www.raptalk.net on the status of “Detox” as well “Relapse 2”, plus we touched on a whole bunch of the old and classical material. We have Chocolate and DJ Silk, two legendary producers in the house, and we’re also talking Slim Tha Mobster because he is up next, not forgetting XV and the rest of Chocolate’s nephews because this is one talented family y’all. I appreciate your time Chocolate and DJ Silk. Do you have any last words for www.raptalk.net before I let you go?

 

Chocolate: I’m good man. I appreciate you. And keep up with the learning the history and keep asking the right shit just like you did. Know your shit, research because a lot of times people ask questions and don’t know what they’re talking about. I appreciate you. Hit me back soon so we can keep getting it in together.

 

DJ Silk: Shouts out to www.raptalk.net and everybody out there that is keeping it pushing. Do good music; that’s my thing. Every producer and artist out there that is doing music, listen to the older guys even though some of the older guys, a lot of the new rappers don’t respect because it’s a new world. That’s what being skilled comes from. There are no boxers that didn’t watch Muhammad Ali. And Dr. Dre is Muhammad Ali; Jermaine Dupri and the rest of the guys that has been here that long; there here for a reason. Those are the words I want to leave you guys with. Do your research and do your history. Know what you’re doing and do it well.

[2euce 7even]

Link Iz Dead.

nope... check again.

thizzanx OG.

[Chad Vader]

Warren G speaks on why he never signed to Death Row and his brother Dr. Dre.
http://deathrowtapes.blogspot.com/2010/01/warren-g-speaks-on-death-row.html

<a href="http://www.forbezdvd.com/player.swf?id=10410" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.forbezdvd.com/player.swf?id=10410</a>