Author Topic: Yukmouth Interview (Talks Free At Last, Thug Lordz, Oakland Raiders, catalog)  (Read 178 times)

D-Nice

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http://illuminati2g.com/site/2010/12/09/yukmouth-interview/

I2G chopped it up with Yukmouth for a exclusive interview. We discuss his current project, Free At Last and his latest album, Thug Money with the Thug Lordz, his thoughts on the west coast and the bay area, his favorite tracks and moments from his albums and much more so check it out.

For audio of the interview, click on the link below:

http://www.mediafire.com/?bf9jct0u3f31n2t

Illuminati 2G is here with Yukmouth how’s it going?

Aww man I can’t complain, thanks for having me on your site, ya dig!

No problem. You dropped your new solo album, Free At Last and Thug Lordz, Thug Money with C-Bo. What has been the fans response and how has it been received since the albums dropped?

Free At Last people like the fact that I am taking it back to the old school Yuk, that Godzilla, Thugged Out Yuk. Thug Lordz, we are bringing that gangsta shit back, the shit that is missing from the streets nowdays. We getting great feedback, people buying the albums, people loving the videos.

Do you have anymore singles or videos set to drop from either of those projects?

We did 5 singles on Free At Last, so we are pretty much a wrap on that. I might slide something else out there, I don’t know. On Thug Lordz we are going to do Looks So Good and one more video after that so we got two more coming from that project.

I got this Tonite Show Thuggin & Mobbin album that is about to drop. Me and DJ Fresh and I got a couple videos for that and yeah I got a nice lineup.

Yeah I seen the new video Shotta from that project.

Oh yeah, Shotta I filmed that overseas, I just got back from Denmark a couple months ago and I shot that out there with my dudes from London. Shout out to Skrilla Kid, Villian and my homeboy Mack Dice. Them Eurogang dudes, S.A.S. real big out there. Just connecting man, showing how the mob is worldwide, it’s good.

Do you have a release date for the Tonight Show?

You can get the digital version right now on Itunes. The physical copies are coming out January 19th. It’s going to be nice, got some nice features on there, Freddie Gibbs, J Hood, Hoodstars, Shady Made, J-Ro from Tha Alkaholiks, Tech N9NE, The Grouch, and a lot more people but that thing is star studded. Oh I can’t forget San Quinn, yeah we got everyone on that album, it is dope as hell.

The reason why I did so many features is because my next album, Thugged Out 2 will have no features, it will be me straight to the head. I got out all the rest of the features that I wanted to do on the Tonite Show.

What is next to drop as far as artists on Smoke-A-Lot Records?

We dropping the Regime album, which everyone has been waiting for.

YES! (laughs)

Regime got Tech N9NE, Lee Majors, Amp Pachino, Cuzzo Fly, the whole mob, all on one album. That’s dropping probably in April or May of next year and it is called Dragon Gang. After that we are coming with Cuzzo Fly’s album, Old Guns, New Money. After that we are coming with my 19th year old artist, Phaze, then it is back to me and the Thug Lordz. My Thugged Out 2 album and then United Ghettos Of America Passport and Eye Candy Volume 2 and 3. All DVDs and CDs so we rocking.

You have always put out new talent and worked with others so this question does not relate to you. Why do you think on the west coast, there are so many artists that are established that generally do not seem interested in helping out new artists or passing the torch so to speak and helping bring new artists to the forefront?

I have no clue and I ask myself that everyday. Why are these big heads on the west not putting anybody on? Why do it take them to get on by they self and then west coast artists start messing with them. I don’t see how Nipsey Hussle came up under the radar without being under Dre or Snoop. I can’t see how J Stylin or Livewire or all the people that are making a buzz that ain’t on big record labels with the big dudes.

I don’t know man, I scratch my head everyday bruh. Them same people I talk about, I work with. I try to help out by doing work with them and when the big heads won’t work with them, I will work with them. When the big heads won’t do shows with them, I will do shows with them, if the big heads won’t put them on DVDs, I do it.

I am with uplifting the whole west coast movement, new artists and old artists and that is how everybody got to be. Once everyone gets on the one west movement, we will start winning again. Everybody will start liking the west coast because we like the west coast, if we don’t like the west coast, who else is going to like the west?

That kind of leads also into my next question. You came up first with the Luniz and being on a major and then as a solo artist, you went to Rap-A-Lot and had mainstream success with both. Why do you think now in 2010 it is so hard for new artists to break on the west coast and get that mainstream love?

Well we got it because it the time that we came the albums were selling actually. It was about good music and not who you were with or a gimmick and right now it is about gimmicks or fads and there is no longevity in that. People will sell for their hit single, ringtone and that is it. They album won’t do nothing and the label drops them, period and that is what has been going on.

The whole thing about us when we came in was that it was a whole different era. Now albums ain’t selling, labels got the 360 deal because they ain’t making any money because records ain’t selling and it is hectic right now for a new artist. Good luck, that is all I can say, because it is ugly. We had deals were we would get all our merchandise and all our publishing, able to do a label deal here there and other places.

We should go do a show or a movie, we had the freedom to do all that. Now the deals are 360 and they get a piece of everything I just mentioned, not just your record sales. It’s ugly, so good luck to the artists that are rocking right now and trying to get in the game.

You are a Bay Area legend, west coast legend. What are your thoughts, and what I consider the most diverse area in the United States as far as hip hop music is the Bay Area. You have every type of music that you can possibly think of coming out of the bay? What are your thoughts on that?

Oh we are the mecca, literally. We literally give people their shit, they swag, they lingo, the shit to rock with. I could name so much shit we started, and people do not give us our credit. For instance, we all in Cali, the jerking movement, that is straight Hyphy, The crazy dances, the crazy and colorful clothes that is the Hyphy movement.

Then the music with the heavy bass drums and the snare, that started in the bay, and everybody is doing that. From Beyonce to Kanye, everybody is doing the bass drum and snare and people are not having no real instruments in their music and that started in the bay.

All these slang words that they are saying down south, I’m grindin, I’m on, we been said that. That is 2001, 2002 we was saying I’m on and I’m grindin, in the 80’s we were saying I’m grindin. All the slang words, it comes from the bay, period. We do a lot for the whole industry, not just California, everybody. Down south, really down south, stunna shades even naming them stunna came from the bay area.

Now you have down south singers with singles called stunna shades, I mean come on! People get more stuff from us then New York. New York used to be in the 80’s where artists would steal their game from and now in the new millennium it is the bay area. I don’t care, south, east coast and Midwest, all take from the bay.

They do they thing to it, put they wiggle on it and put it out like they did it. We the mecca of this shit, of rap period, that’s how I feel, straight up.

I wanted to go through with you real quick your albums and what your favorite moments or songs were from each. I wanted to start with your albums with the Luniz, and the first album is Operation Stackola. What is your favorite track or favorite moment from making that album?

One of my favorite tracks is 5150 (laughs). The one that Shock G did from Digital Underground, that was just a wild song and I got a story to it. We did the song when we first met Shock, just before the I Got 5 On It remix and everything. Our first song with him is 5150 and I was doing the little voices and everything like that so it was extra funny.

At that time I was roommates with the rapper A Plus from Souls Of Mischief. I bring the song home and he got mushroom tea, the kind you get high off of, and he made some tea out of it. Him and the Hieroglyphics are in there drinking it, so they give me and Numskull some tea and we drinking and we put the song on.

5150 we actually played this song for the whole night until the next morning. We stayed up all night playing the song back to back to back to back, laying on our backs, shroomed the fuck out thinking we seeing shit in the air, oh my god it was fucking crazy man. That song has story to it for real and yeah that is one of my favorites off of that.

How about the second album, Lunatik Musik?

Well my song is definitely Revelations. That is the one that I opened up my heart on, and it was a song about my life and it is still one of my favorite Yukmouth songs. Num had a bonus song on the cd and I had a bonus song on the cassette. Definitely Revelations.

Ok and the third one on the cd it says Black & White, but to me I call that album Oakland Raiders. I am a Raiders fan so what your favorite off of that?

AIGHT! Of course Oakland Raiders, the Raiders man, that is my favorite track off that album. The title track, period because it represents us, the bay, and it represents the Raiders man. Nobody has made a anthem for them and we definitely did it first and repped our city. I love the Raiders song, that is my favorite song on there.

What ended up happening with that track? I was surprised the team did not pick up the song and it did not catch on regionally.

Our executive producer at the time tried to present it to the team, but at the time it was too vulgar and they just played the instrumental. They would play the instrumental at games but not the actual song because we were talking about dope dealing and all types of crazy stuff that they did not want the kids to be listening to in the stadium. Just the instrumental and the hook, that’s it. It was love like that and of course the radio station would play it but other than that, that was about it, it was not a platinum single like I Got 5 On It or anything.

Then you went into your solo career, what is your favorite album off your first album, Thugged Out The Albulation?

Hmmm, it’s a double cd. I definitely like Like Father Like Son on one cd and the other I like Sacrifice My Life.

I would have to say my all time favorite track from you and it is from that album is City Of Dope.

Yeah City Of Dope! How can I forget that man, wow! City Of Dope. You are right.

What was the process you went through in making that song? You really broke that down from beginning to end the drug game in Oakland on that song.

(Laughs). Oh man I don’t know, every time I rap, I picture a movie and I picture the whole scenario about it. I was in movie mode like man if I was about to make a movie, how would it go about Oakland, the city of dope. I wrote it, like how I would want the movie to be, about true stories and events and what went down in Oakland. It is a lyrical documentary about Oakland and that was my frame of mind, and I was smoking a lot of weed and I just went crazy.

Mike Dean gave me a hell of a beat, that was when I was on Rap-A-Lot getting those beats, he made all the Scarface albums and I was getting that premo, super duper, uncut dope beats. When he played that beat, I was like oh yeah this is it.

How about your second album, Thug Lord The New Testament?

New Testament, the title track. The one I damn near rapped for 6 minutes, with me and Kokane. Shout out to Kokane.

Godzilla

Godzilla, man I had a couple on that thing. I like Stuntastic…, yeah I would probably say Stuntastic is my favorite off of Godzilla.

Million Dollar Mouthpiece

Shine Like Me

Westcoast Don

Westcoast G’z, that was another documentary rap where I am just rapping about the west coast.

Free At Last

Pac Man

Do you have any upcoming shows or tour dates?

Nah, all of January and February I will. If anyone wants to catch up with me, just hit me up on www.smokealotrecords.com.

What you got coming up next with Smoke-A-Lot radio?

Yeah tonight we gonna have Raz B on there. We have had Ice Cube, Freeway Ricky Ross, the real one not the rapper, E-40, we done had everybody on there, Twista. Smoke-A-Lot radio is doing real good, shout out to all the listeners and callers that tune in on the website. Thanks for holding us down, tonight we got Raz B so we gonna see what’s happening.

Well that is all the questions I have for you, appreciate you getting down for the interview. Is there any last words or shoutouts you want to get out there to the people?

Yeah man, yall follow me on twitter, www.twitter.com/tharealyukmouth. Hit me on Facebook www.facebook.com/yukmouth. Just holla at me and get to know the kid. Check out my website www.smokealotrecords.com and listen to Smoke-A-Lot Radio, every Monday night.

 
 

NoobCake

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LOL What else is new?  A Bay Area rapper bitching about the Bay not getting the credit.  These dudes whine more than any other part of the country.  And most of that shit he mentioned didn't start there.
 

D-Nice

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LOL What else is new?  A Bay Area rapper bitching about the Bay not getting the credit.  These dudes whine more than any other part of the country.  And most of that shit he mentioned didn't start there.

It's not like he is lying though. Culture, slang, you name it, it has been jacked from the Bay
 

Elano

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LOL What else is new?  A Bay Area rapper bitching about the Bay not getting the credit.  These dudes whine more than any other part of the country.  And most of that shit he mentioned didn't start there.

and he lives in l.a.  ::)
 

doggfather

thanks for this, nice work!
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